Yes, that is a bummer about the brackets, but on top of the fact they'll be under very large overhangs (and unlikely to be rained on more than a couple of events a year though blowing snow may be an issue), I do have a couple of strategies I'd like to try for dealing with the water issue and the potential for rot. So I feel ok about the brackets themselves and their longevity, but I really don't want to have them penetrate through the Larsen. However, with around 5' of overhang on the gables, they'll be loaded enough they can't really be attached to the outside of the larsens. I'm thinking about essentially beefing up the Larsen under/below and behind the bracket (it will no longer really be a Larsen, just a box column really that has the same dimensions as a Larsen for a uniform look) to take the vertical load, and some tension hardware up top to address rotational forces. This will leave it outside of everything important and still replaceable in the future (one at a time with care and not with 5' of wet snow on top!) if needed. I'd like to try something, and since this will be my own building, it's a better place to experiment! I do have an engineer who is keen to help out too.
Thx Don, appreciate your thoughts.
B