Atelic Loops, Anchored Frames, and Phatic Signs

This article examines how visual and multimodal design organizes narrative meaning in the chat fiction Señor on NovelToon. Drawing on social semiotics, visual grammar, and the study of semiotic technology, the research analyzes GIFs, static images, emojis, verbal text, and tap-to-reveal features through multimodal analysis and close reading of fifty chapters. The findings identify three interrelated design operations. GIFs create a dual temporal regime in which cyclic micro-time interacts with reader-activated narrative progression, producing temporal-affective dwell. Static images share narrative work with verbal text through anchorage and relay, visualizing characters, spatial relations, and material details. Emojis operate paratextually and diegetically to manage contact, stance, force, and character indexing. Across these resources, interface sequencing organizes how visual and verbal information becomes available to readers. The article argues that chat fiction constitutes a form of platform-native visual storytelling in which multimodal meaning emerges through the coordination of visual resources, narrative sequence, and interface action.