The FrostFire System

As a sidenote: I'm one of those weird Cat Show People, and one of my partners and I show her cats in CFA. And I first want to say I think that my fellow CFA exhibitors and the organization itself have acted horribly towards this cat and his owner. Even though he has a genetic abnormality, even if he is not allowed to compete, this kind of patronizing and rude behavior is pervasive in the culture of CFA, by virtue of this being a pedigree cat organization and therefore mostly dominated by boomers with time and money (I have it on decent authority from some acquaintances that things like leadership boards attract the most insane kind of white people), and the organization as a whole is not incentivised to do anything about it.

That said, I'm also not entirely happy with how this story has circulated, because it leaves out the information important to understanding the actual problem (especially in the article below, which I believe is the most widespread on the issue):

From what I understand, Dawntreader Texas Calboy was being shown in Championship (his facebook states he reached Grand Championship status, which is no small feat). The article does not explain this, but Championship in CFA is the category for intact adult cats, and generally includes cats which, if found to be up to breed standard, will be bred to produce more purebred cats, and therefore acts as an endorsement of that particular cat's genetic makeup. While the article above does not specify, it is my assumption tha Texas Calboy is banned from competition in Championship specifically. If he were to be neutered, he could be entered into Household Pet, which is the competitive class for which any fixed, non-aggressive cat is eligible.

I show in Household Pet, and it is traditionally a class accepting and celebratory of cats with strange abnormalities. It's perhaps considered less prestigious by some snobs, but Household Pet entrants are eligible for the same types of awards as pedigree classes, including Grand points (meaning the cat has defeated a certain percentage of cats in its class across at least 3 judges) and national awards. It's the class meant to celebrate cats for simply being cats; I've seen all sorts from a pedigreed Maine Coon with crossed eyes to a shelter cat with severe leg deformities, and often, in my experience, judges take great pleasure in judging HHP because they can use whatever criteria they want instead of referring to a standard template. It's fun and a wonderful way to showcase cats as a pet animal and encourage adoption (shelters will sometimes enter adoptable cats into HHP for PR). It's a lot of fun to participate in and to watch.

But I also have an assumption as to why CFA made the call they did. CFA is known to be the stricter of the two large international show organizations (TICA being its laxer sibling), and generally its focus is on what's called "preservation breeding". Preservation breeding has a twofold aim: breeding the healthiest cat possible as close to the standards of its breed as possible, and avoiding experimental breeding. This often means that it is extremely difficult to get new breeds accepted at CFA and that CFA has a precedent of disqualifying cats with genetic mutations from competing as a pedigree cat (especially in the intact Championship category).

While I have plenty of criticisms about the kinds of breeds CFA finds acceptable sometimes (it's far from infallible - don't get me started on Scottish Folds, and peke-faced Persians are on thin fucking ice), but in general the organization prioritizes the long term health of a cat breed. Munchkins, for example, are not permitted to show in the pedigree classes because their looks are caused by dwarfism. The Canadian Sphynx was removed from the approved breed list for several years due to health concerns before being reinstated. While a number of pedigree breeds are the result of genertic mutation (the Canadian Sphynx, rex cats, the American Wirehair, and the Lykoi are all results of natural, genetic coat mutations), CFA has rigorous standards for breeds seeking recognition and these primarily concern the long term health of the breed.

CFA goes out of its way to discourage experimental breeding, and this is a good thing - experimental breeding encourages interest in strange-looking or unique traits in a cat without care for its well-being, and creates demand for backyard breeding and a worse longevity outlook for the cat - and as a result can be quite harsh to cats with genetic differences because pedigreed Champions are seen as a breeding endorsement, and breeding without regard for genetic abnormalities is how you get the current state of betta fish. Breeding a chimera would be seen as experimental, and CFA explicitly doesn't want to encourage or endorse doing so.

I just wanted to add context the article didn't, but cannot stress enough that how this cat was treated was wrong and indicative of how society at large treats intersex and nonconforming folks every day. CFA's decision may be precautionary, and even reasonable where an animal is involved, but it brings out the worst in CFA's membership and reinforces a lot of the biases many of us in the organization wish to push back against. The article above mentions that the breeder's son is autistic, and that she sees people in CFA treat her cat the way she sees her son treated in everyday life. That has to be heartbreaking for someone who loves cats the way she loves people, for two of her closest to share the same struggles. I don't entirely disagree with CFA's DQ of Texas Calboy, but I do consider it a canary in the coal mine when it comes to how internal CFA culture needs to change. Animals may not be people, and it's important to distinguish that, but when cat fanciers have no qualms saying such things about a cat, I've no doubt they'd have more in saying them to a human. And that's the real issue here.

Mustang is an Atoner figure. Something that plagues Atoner figures is when writers are too precious about the characters we're meant to like to actually let them be guilty of something serious.

The Atoner might be trying to make amends for their involvement in the Great '87 Hotel Massacre, and then three seasons in you find out what happened. And it's like, "I drove a taxi to the hotel, and the KILLER was in it! I ferried the killer to the hotel! That makes me responsible, and now I must atone for being nearby while the killings took place! And also vanquish the real killer who is the villain for this season."

Or maybe the Atoner did do the killings but they were under mind control the whole time and would never, ever have done it in their right mind.

But FMA said no. Mustang, Hawkeye, Hughes, even Armstrong to an extent though he suffered a breakdown and fled during it. They did that shit. They followed their orders and they did that shit. And it haunts them.

Roy did that shit. And his atonement, his grand ambition, is to see everyone responsible for that shit brought to justice for their crimes. Including himself.

These two even got a full art card when the remakes released

I made this transparent PNG the night he died in preparation for one of the many ways I was going to memorialize him--a surface rug in his likeness that I planned on laying directly in the line of his favourite sunbeam. And I uploaded that PNG here, because this is the website where people post their cats.

I was not expecting the reception I got. Many people have pointed out that this post has more reblogs than likes, and how insane that is in 2025 when reblog culture is at an all time low. I didn't even talk about the fact that Burger passed away in the original post, it wasn't a tearjerker reblog bait or anything like that. People just loved Burger that much, in the same way I fell in love with him at first sight. He was such an ugly kitten.

Anyways, it's really special to me that so many people have reblogged my best friend. I made this PNG to memorialize him in a completely different way, and you all wound up doing just that in ways I never even imagined.

Thank you. Wherever he is, I know the sun is shining.

He asked: "Oh, was she the only son or something before *waves hand*?" and I was like, warily, no she has two brothers. And he responded with a great deal of confusion: "Then what's their problem?!?!"