Meulin Leijon


 * For the post-Scratch version of this character, see The Disciple.

Meulin Leijon is the pre-Scratch iteration of Nepeta's dancestor. She possesses a tail, like Nepeta. She is deaf, and often uses sign language and mimes to express her thoughts. This is best seen in her conversation with Kurloz Makara, who also mimes. Her quirk means she adds intricate catfaces to the start of her text, and uses cat puns (similar to the fish puns Meenah uses) in speech, most often replacing parts of words with 'purr'. Her text is also in all caps, indicating that due to her deafness, she cannot tell how loud she is speaking.

Biography
Upon exiting Terezi's hive as Meenah, a small "scene" (Aranea's Exposition) gives more information about some of the post-scratch "ancestors":

"The Mage of Heart as you know is an ardent disciple of the romantic sciences. She has a well earned reputation as a miracle worker when it comes to match making. But her own romantic history ironically has been riddled with trouble and heartbreak. Once, well before our session began, she and Kurloz were in a very loving matespritship. It really seemed to everyone they were made for each other. One day, they fell asleep together. Kurloz then has a nightmare so terrifying, he released the most dreadful sound imaginable. It truly echoed the horror of the Vast Honk itself. The noise was so loud and so awful, Meulin went completely deaf, and her hearing never recovered. Kurloz was undoubtedly devastated by what he'd done to her. He was so distraught, he sewed his mouth shut and has never spoken a word since. Though they have drifted apart as matesprits, Meulin never held it against him, and even seemed to take delight in learning new ways to communicate. They continued to remain very close to this day. Maybe a little too close if you ask me. It's clear that her sympathies have been gradually swayed in support of the Highblood's cult. She stays private about her beliefs, but now and then I'll notice she lets some tenet of mirthful doctrine slip out. I suppose I shouldn't be too concerned though, since it's almost certainly a lot of harmless superstition."

Personality
Meulin is easily excitable and prone to overreaction. Her interests, much like her dancestor, lie in the romantic shipping of those around her. She has a specific knack for red romance, leaving the blacker quadrants to Kurloz. Interestingly, the heart key was found near her and the spade key near Kurloz. Apparently, she had no problems forgiving Kurloz for the loss of her hearing. The two remained good friends, though she is seemingly oblivious to his more sinister intentions.

Trivia

 * Meulin's name was suggested by McBatman for Nepeta. It is a French surname, as well as the name of a small town in Burgundy, France which is part of the municipality of Dompierre-les-Ormes.
 * Her name was likely chosen based on the term "mewling", which is a term for the sound cats make.
 * "Meulin" also sounds and looks similar to "Merlin," fitting her title, Mage of Heart.
 * Her demeanor and manner of speaking is a parody of the fan girl "shipper" archetype. Many of her phrases such as "feels" and referring to characters as "babies", along with her liberal usage of animated GIFs (through sign language) are popularly used by Tumblr bloggers. Amusingly, she acts exactly the way some fans interpreted Nepeta.
 * She found the cod piece that Gamzee was seen wearing when in his God Tier outfit, meeting Jane Crocker. She gave it to Kurloz, who gave it to Gamzee.
 * After giving the codpiece to Kurloz, Meulin is shown to have been hypnotized by Kurloz.
 * Interestingly, given that in the post-scratch universe the Disciple was in love with the Sufferer and deeply devoted to his teachings, Meulin's matespritship with and spiritual devotion to Kurloz - the pre-scratch version of the Grand Highblood, the Sufferer's antithesis - is a near direct inversion. Same character, same principles, but with a sort of about-face, transferring those principles to the dark side of the ideological conflict.
 * She multiplies letters and punctuation in sets of nine, which probably relates to the old saying that cats have nine lives.
 * Meulin's emotes, without various combinations of arms: (=˙•˙=) (=`ω´=) (^•ω•^) (^•x•^) (=^•^=) (=^•ω•^=) (^•o•^) (=^. .^) (^._.^) (=^-ω-^=) (=^ω^=) (=^. .^=) (=^•I•^=) (=T I T=) (= ; I ; =) (=TωT=) (^-Λ-^)