#Claude St.Claude

[taldigi]

What is the FC: Faerie Festival Arc?

I was catching up on Komi-san AND playing the new poke DLC and was kinda lamenting how like, where I live- we don't really have culture celebrations like some other places do. We have farmers markets and harvest festivals but nothing as culturally poignant as some of what they have (not just japan, other countries too)

Sooo I thought it might be fun to have a little festival specific to this story! Very geared to the faeries established presence- so i did some light research- stuff like festival foods and traditional clothing--!!

"Wouldn't it be wise for Ladybug and Chat Noir to keep an eye on a faerie festival?" Marinette asked, arms folded and leaning back in her chair, prompting a sour look from Felix. "It would be wise for them to stay away from the event entirely." He remarked, "TsuTec hardly has a clean reputation. It could be a trap." "Actually." Alina grinned, strained, as she grabbed both their arms and forced them into a huddle, "It would be wise for Marinette and Felix to accept their very good friend Kagami's very generous offer." The trio looked over their shoulders, as Kagami stood akwardly, a wet look peeking out from behind her bangs. Marinette and Felix wilted with guilt, as they cast a glance at each other.

So some preface if you aren't aware: TsuTec's main role in the story is developing something known as Faeglass, which is refined, pressed Faerie Dust harvested from Faeries. The thing about Faeglass is that it's gorgeous. Anything made with Faeglass is mildly addictive and very alluring. The QuaMii toys (in-universe Tamagatchi) were a trial run of using the glass to make things, and have been wildly successful- almost everyone has one. Fury/Richard Sphinx invested in the project, and now has a partnership with TsuTec to develop new Slot Machines for his casino using this Faeglass- rendering an already addictive activity doubley so. A side effect/double edged sword element of the Faeglass is that Faeries can "infest" the glass, taking it over and hiding within it.

Anyway, the gist of the festival is that it's a new thing developed by TsuTec to further market and strengthen their brand, disguised as a "Faerie Festival". Here, they sell masks infused with the glass/dust that line up with their QuaMii characters, and paired up with food, music, games, and culminating an odd event known as the Faemoon.

The Faemoon It's a new thing that started happening since the Faewild was cracked open (by Tsutec, to harvest Faerie Dust) and faeries started inhibiting the real world. The moon turns pink at roughly 11-Midnight, and at this time, and a bit before and after, the faeries- overloaded with magic -start getting rambunctious and a little silly. The more you fight against it (scolding, trying to silence them, ect) the more chaotic it is. But if you play along and have fun, the event goes smoothly. It happens once every few months, but the festival happens only once a year, when the Faemoon is at it's strongest.

So the masks themselves, like I said, are themed after popular cartoon/Tsutec characters. You get to purchase one based on what QuaMii you have (if you have & show one, you get a mild discount, which in conjunction with the faeglass/dusting means everyone has one at the festival) however, the Faemoon/Faeglass combo means that the power boost+infestation event means that during the Faemoon, the faeries can temporarily override the personality of the mask wearer (if worn on the face, not on their head. For story/visual clarity reasons.) In fact, St. Claude is possessed by Mimic for the majority of this "arc" because he doesn't really have a strong willpower + Mimic is very very intense.

The mains are influenced or can be posessed, but unlike Mimic; Tikki, Plagg, and the other main Faeries do genuinely love their chosen and don't abuse that trust by doing anything heinous. Tikki and Plagg (in Mar and Felix' bodies) dance together, and the masks mimic a smooch at the end by bopping noses. (i am not immune to Plikki)

Null is drained by the faemoon/would rather not challenge faeries when they are at their fullest, wildest power- and chooses to stay away from the event. Which is why the event is ultimately safe for the protags, even if they themselves don't know it. Also, the masks are worn by multiple people- lots of people have black cats and red puppies/ladybugs and bees and such, the protags do not have unique masks... except Kagami. She has a wholly unique mask and QuaMii toy. (Felix too, technically, but his is a prototype of a popularly retailed one, and Marinettes is modified/customized after she broke hers.) Which means that the even is just fun for them (because the characters deserve to have fun.)

Not to say that the festival doesn't have ulterior motives. The event drew a lot of wishmakers, and so it drew a lot of faeries- who shed a lot of Faerie Dust due to the moon, ultimately causing the event to be a successful harvest method for TsuTec, who also gathered a census via the mask distro. The mains, fortunately, accidentally avoided this census, because Kagami invited them and gave them their masks personally.

Ultimately, there isn't a "set story" for what happens during the festival, it's sort of freeform for whatever stories I might want to tell with it/worldbuilding event- like the Plikki dance or the Mimic!Claude thing. (and also having fun designing outfits and masks!)

[stclaudeautoinc]

Toyota Canada certifies its 1st Independent Collision Centre in Manitoba

Toyota Canada has recently recongnized St.Claude Autobody as an official Toyota Certified Collision Centre. They are the 1st independent autobody shop (non dealership owned) in Manitoba to meet the new requirements of the Toyota certification.  As of the publication of this article, St.Claude Autobody is 1 of only 6 shops in all of Canada to meet the newly revamped requirements of the Toyota Certified Collision Centre Program.

Known within the industry for it's strict requirements, Toyota certification demands the latest equipment, up to date training and a flawless repair process - one that ensures that their customers receive the best repairs possible.   With changing technologies in today's vehicles, it is important for customers to take their vehicle to a repair facility that embraces change and stays up to date on repair procedures. Already having all of these attributes meant that St. Claude Autobody was a natural fit for this certification.

"We've been working extremely hard to stay on top of all the recent changes in the collision repair trade." states Norm Bruneau, owner and general manager at St. Claude Autobody. "We are extremely pleased that Toyota Canada recognized our efforts and are willing to count on us as one of their certified repair centres." 

In a recent statement, Paul Stella, manager of Toyota Canada's Collision Repair & Refinish Program, outlined that it's about more than returning vehicles to pre-accident condition. It's about returning them to original factory specifications to ensure that customer safety is not compromised. Toyota Certified Collision Centres such as St. Claude Autobody have access to the latest Toyota technical and repair information right from the Toyota website making them the clear choice when it comes to choosing a repair facility. 

While most Toyota certified repair facilities are dealership owned, dealers without an in- house repair facility can designate an independent shop of their choice to become certified as long as they meet the Toyota requirements.  Portage Toyota has chosen St.Claude Autobody as their repair facility of choice to ensure that their customers receive certified repairs. 

Doug Thompson, general manager at Portage Toyota states "Customer safety has always been a focal point here, so it was important for us to work with a qualified repair facility. We've had a great working relationship with St. Claude Autobody over the years and partnering with them was the right choice for us and our customers."

[taldigi]

[taldigi]

hes ALIVE

[stclaudeautoinc]

St.Claude Autobody is on the leading edge of MPI's new Direct Repair Program

St.Claude Autobody has been working closely with Manitoba Public Insurance on a new program that is designed to make the insurance claim and repair process easier and more efficient for customers.

This new program is known as Direct Repair and is described by MPI on their website as follows:

"Direct Repair enables customers with eligible claims to proceed directly to a participating repair shop for a vehicle damage estimate after reporting the claim to MPI, instead of attending an MPI Service or Claim Centre.  Direct Repair streamlines the repair process and can save time by eliminating the need to visit MPI for the first vehicle damage estimate."

St.Claude Autobody has been working for months to ensure that they were on the leading edge of the program and on March 1st, they were one of only a few shops in Manitoba that transitioned seamlessly into the Direct Repair Program.  As of June 1st, MPI has lifted the veil on the program and is allowing shops to advertise their participation in the Direct Repair Program.

The main benefit to the program, as mentioned in the MPI statement above, is that on qualifying claims, customers will now have the option of attending a Direct Repair Facility such as St.Claude Autobody for the initial damage estimate. 

The new claim process will go as follows:

Call MPI first to report the claim

Obtain an eligible claim number from MPI; and,

Call St.Claude Autobody to book an estimate and to arrange for repairs.

After the initial call to MPI to start the claim, the customer will be dealing solely with the Direct Repair facility for the rest of the estimating and repair process.

Although MPI has only recently introduced the Direct Repair Program, St.Claude Autobody has been operating similarly since 2012, when they started performing pre-inspections on all vehicles with claims for their customers.  This practice still exists today at a larger volume and goes by the acronym ‘ERP’ which stands for ‘Enhanced Repair Planning’. ERP was not common practice back in 2012 and is still only performed by a handful of shops , as it is a completely different approach to writing estimates and completing repairs.  Typically, shops would use the 1st estimate written by the MPI estimator to order the required parts and schedule the customer for repairs. Because the MPI estimator is not allowed to remove anything from the vehicle when writing their estimate, more often than not, hidden damage was only discovered once the vehicle was in the shop for repairs, which unavoidably slows down the repair process. In this scenario, the shop would then need to get approval from MPI for the additional repairs, and would need to wait for the additional parts to arrive before continuing.

With the introduction of the Direct Repair Program, St.Claude Autobody has merged it’s Enhanced Repair Planning with the initial claim estimate appointment to write a thorough estimate the first time and save their customers downtime without their vehicle.  Their process includes scheduling the customer for a 1 hour appointment (depending on the extent of the damage) so that they could take the vehicle apart to capture ALL the damage before bringing the vehicle in for repairs. This way, they could get the necessary approvals and required parts ahead of time, which in turn reduced the amount of time the vehicle was in the shop for repairs.

Repairs completed in St. Claude Autobody's facility, take on average, half the time of repairs completed in other Manitoba repair shops. This saves both MPI and it’s ratepayers money as rental car costs are kept to a minimum. This new and improved process did not go unnoticed by both the customers and MPI. 5 years after St.Claude Autobody started the ERP program, MPI is rolling out the Direct Repair Program, and St.Claude Autobody is hitting the ground running.