i was thinking about the sex dream ronan had of adam and kavinsky in tdt and i was thinking about the implications of adam showing up before kavinsky and i have a theory about that
i think ronan consciously changed adam to kavinsky and let me explain why:
before ronan falls asleep he thinks aboutĀ āthe dark bags beneath Adamās eyesā (Stiefvater, 235) last which shows that it was on his mind last before he started dreaming
now if you know a bit about dream theory you know that it talks about your unconscious (or the id in freudās words) that comes up during dreams because usually you repress this. during sleep, however, there is no conscious that suppresses hidden feelings or emotions which causes you unconscious to run wild in your dreams. i wonāt bore you with quotes but look up some essays if youāre interested in this!
back to the main thing tho: adam pops up first because ronanās unconscious finally has the freedom to come up and it takes ronanās feelings for adam the ones he has represses so far, with it. what is interesting is that you can link the intricate design of the tattoo to the complicated feelings ronan has of adam!
however, ronan is not a normal person. he can (to some extend) control his dreams.
āAs [Adam] traced it further and further down on the bare skin of Ronanās back, Ronan himself disappeared entirely,ā (235)Ā
what i think happens here is that the ronan that is looking at dream ronan getting touched by adam takes control back, which makes dream ronan disappear.Ā
kavinsky replaces adam but theĀ ātangled pattern of inkā (235) getsĀ āsmaller and smallerā and it becomes a celtic knot, which is a much simpler design than how ronanās tattoo is usually described
so, i think that ronan replaces adam with kavinsky because it is easier to feel something (anything really) for kavinsky, someone he thinks he deserves because he doesnāt love himself, instead of adam, one of his best friends and the person ronan thinks he is not good enough for.Ā
the simplification of the tattoo signifies not only that ronanās feelings for kavinsky are simpler but also that ronan sees himself being with kavinsky as simpler than being with adam
of course there is also much we can talk about with the different latin phrases they use but i donāt know enough about latin to make a post about that

























