thanks again Tim- that makes sense about the pins. other lapped braces have moved a bit on me- that should help.
i was looking at sobon's "historic american joinery" available on this site.
the braces will be largely working in compression, though i like the idea of the dovetail doing work in tension too. so did our structural engineer. it's true that every brace has a buddy opposite, but it's nice to think that each can hold its own in stiffening the frame. also, i find those kind of braces easy to lay out and cut on imperfect timbers, and pretty also- transparent.
