diff --git a/src/AcDream.App/UI/Layout/ChatWindowController.cs b/src/AcDream.App/UI/Layout/ChatWindowController.cs
index 777739d5..73ef8c5f 100644
--- a/src/AcDream.App/UI/Layout/ChatWindowController.cs
+++ b/src/AcDream.App/UI/Layout/ChatWindowController.cs
@@ -153,6 +153,12 @@ public sealed class ChatWindowController : IRetainedWindowStateController, IReta
 
     private UiElement? _unreadIndicator;
 
+    /// <summary>Test seam: the bound unseen-text indicator, if the layout has one.</summary>
+    internal UiElement? UnreadIndicatorForTest => _unreadIndicator;
+
+    /// <summary>Test seam: force the unseen flag without faking a line arrival.</summary>
+    internal void SetUnreadForTest(bool unread) => _hasUnseenText = unread;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Set when a line arrives while the transcript is scrolled up, cleared
     /// the moment the view is back at the bottom.
@@ -372,7 +378,12 @@ public sealed class ChatWindowController : IRetainedWindowStateController, IReta
         c._unreadIndicator = layout.FindElement(UnreadIndicatorId);
         if (c._unreadIndicator is not null)
         {
-            c._unreadIndicator.Visible = false;
+            // Driven by authored STATE, not visibility. Retail's own click
+            // handler ends in SetState(0xD) — Ghosted — which is also the
+            // element's authored default, and the unread look is state 1
+            // (Normal). Ghosted authors no media at all, so it draws nothing
+            // without needing to be hidden.
+            c.SetUnreadIndicatorState(unread: false);
             if (c._unreadIndicator is UiButton unread)
                 unread.OnClick = c.ScrollToNewestAndClearUnread;
         }
@@ -909,10 +920,35 @@ public sealed class ChatWindowController : IRetainedWindowStateController, IReta
     {
         if (Transcript.Scroll.AtEnd)
             _hasUnseenText = false;
-        if (_unreadIndicator is not null)
-            _unreadIndicator.Visible = _hasUnseenText;
+        SetUnreadIndicatorState(_hasUnseenText);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Puts the indicator into its authored unread (<c>Normal</c>) or idle
+    /// (<c>Ghosted</c>) state.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// <b>The blink is authored, not coded.</b> The element's Normal state
+    /// carries SIX image frames (measured: <c>LayoutDump --states</c> on
+    /// 0x2100006F reports <c>media=13/6</c> for state 1, against <c>0/0</c>
+    /// for Ghosted), so retail's flashing comes from cycling that media list.
+    /// Our importer keeps only ONE file per state
+    /// (<see cref="Layout.ElementInfo.StateMedia"/>), so the indicator
+    /// currently shows a static frame. Multi-frame state media is its own
+    /// capability; the state machinery here is right either way, and gains the
+    /// animation for free once that lands.
+    /// </remarks>
+    private void SetUnreadIndicatorState(bool unread)
+    {
+        if (_unreadIndicator is not IUiDatStateful stateful)
+            return;
+        stateful.TrySetRetailState(
+            unread ? UiButtonStateMachine.Normal : GhostedStateId);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Retail state <c>0xD</c>, the id its own click handler sets.</summary>
+    private const uint GhostedStateId = 13u;
+
     /// <summary>Aims the chat entry at <paramref name="name"/> and focuses it.</summary>
     internal void StartTell(string name)
     {
diff --git a/tests/AcDream.App.Tests/UI/Layout/ChatWindowControllerTests.cs b/tests/AcDream.App.Tests/UI/Layout/ChatWindowControllerTests.cs
index 7cf98d0d..c6c9286e 100644
--- a/tests/AcDream.App.Tests/UI/Layout/ChatWindowControllerTests.cs
+++ b/tests/AcDream.App.Tests/UI/Layout/ChatWindowControllerTests.cs
@@ -123,6 +123,17 @@ public class ChatWindowControllerTests
             info.StateMedia["Highlight"] = (0x2u, 1);
             return info;
         }
+        // The unseen-text indicator (CT-C1). Authors Normal and Ghosted media
+        // the way the real element does, so TrySetRetailState can resolve both
+        // — Ghosted is its authored DEFAULT and is what retail's own click
+        // handler sets (SetState(0xD)).
+        var unread = new ElementInfo
+        {
+            Id = 0x1000048Cu, Type = 1, X = 0, Y = 57, Width = 16, Height = 16,
+        };
+        unread.StateMedia["Normal"] = (0x3u, 1);
+        unread.StateMedia["Ghosted"] = (0x4u, 1);
+
         var indicator1 = MakeIndicator(0x10000522u, 5);
         var indicator2 = MakeIndicator(0x10000523u, 22);
         var indicator3 = MakeIndicator(0x10000524u, 39);
@@ -135,6 +146,7 @@ public class ChatWindowControllerTests
         root.Children.Add(transcriptPanel);
         root.Children.Add(inputBar);
         root.Children.Add(maxMinNode);
+        root.Children.Add(unread);
         root.Children.Add(indicator1);
         root.Children.Add(indicator2);
         root.Children.Add(indicator3);
@@ -187,6 +199,42 @@ public class ChatWindowControllerTests
         Assert.True(ctrl.Transcript.Scroll.AtEnd);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void TheIndicatorIsDrivenByAuthoredStateNotVisibility()
+    {
+        // Retail's own click handler ends in SetState(0xD) — Ghosted — which
+        // is also the element's authored default; the unread look is state 1
+        // (Normal), whose media list carries SIX frames and is where the
+        // flashing comes from. Hiding the element instead would look almost
+        // right and could never blink.
+        ChatWindowController ctrl = BindController();
+
+        UiElement indicator = Assert.IsAssignableFrom<UiElement>(
+            ctrl.UnreadIndicatorForTest);
+
+        // Visibility is NOT the mechanism: the element stays visible and
+        // changes STATE. Ghosted authors no media on the real element, so it
+        // draws nothing without being hidden.
+        Assert.True(indicator.Visible);
+
+        var stateful = Assert.IsAssignableFrom<IUiDatStateful>(indicator);
+        Assert.Equal("Ghosted", ((UiButton)indicator).ActiveState);
+
+        // A line arriving while scrolled up flips it to Normal — the state
+        // whose authored media carries the six flash frames.
+        ctrl.Transcript.Scroll.SetExtents(contentHeight: 500, viewHeight: 100);
+        ctrl.Transcript.Scroll.SetScrollY(0);
+        ctrl.SetUnreadForTest(true);
+        ctrl.UpdateUnreadIndicator();
+        Assert.Equal("Normal", ((UiButton)indicator).ActiveState);
+
+        // ...and returning to the bottom puts it back.
+        ctrl.Transcript.Scroll.ScrollToEnd();
+        ctrl.UpdateUnreadIndicator();
+        Assert.Equal("Ghosted", ((UiButton)indicator).ActiveState);
+        _ = stateful;
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void ClickingTheIndicatorJumpsToTheNewestText()
     {