The adjacent card helps me know the content of the thoughts, not the Knave itself (or otherwise it would get repetitive. The rule only holds if the Jack is next to the King or Queen of the same suit. They only respond to the rulers of their own suit). If they represent subordinates to their respective King/Queen when functioning as a literal person, they work the same way when read as thoughts: that is, the King/Queen's intentions. The Knaves do the King/Queen's bidding, so they can be what the King/Queen is sending out, if that makes sense. It wouldn't be helpful to take the Jack itself as the content whenever they end up next to one of these cards; the King of Diamonds doesn't always think about money (Jack of Diamonds). Let's say that, for instance, we had these cards together some place in the tableau (or whatever spread you're using): King of Diamonds + Knave of Diamonds + Two of Spades + Ten of Spades. In this example, I read the Jack as "intends to..." (think of it as a connector between the King and the rest of the cards). A man, maybe someone important that you work with, intends to break things off, which will lead to sever upset. See how that worked? Still, this isn't the primary meaning for me; I note it scarcely in certain contexts and depending on the first impression I get. So, based on what I do (reading the court cards as people almost all the time), if a Knave of a different suit ends up next to a King/Queen, it's a person, and rarely news either intended for or about that person (not their thoughts). However, there are no hard and fast rules as every reading is different; you have to trust yourself and allow some room for flow while still following the logic of your system. It gets more complicated when, for example, the person you're reading for is under a certain age (21 in my practice) and so they have to be represented by a Jack. What would you read as news? If you're reading for a dark haired lady and she indeed has a son (Jack of Spades), what would signify bad news? (This Jack when read as messages is malefic, if we strictly think of it in terms of the suit's function). Of course, you can read one card in different ways and thus take the Jack as both a person and messages in another line or combo, but I tend to look at what is around the Ace of Diamonds instead (=news, intentions, what is sent out). It's another reason why I interpret the Court cards as people: for the ease.