Machina X Flayon: My dopamine is my fans

Machina X Flayon is a Virtual YouTuber under HOLOSTARS English. Since his debut in 2023, he has had a lot of cherished moments in his career - and picked some out to share with us. He also gave us a small glimpse of what happens behind the scenes as a VTuber.

Esports.gg previously talked with Flayon as he spoke of his experiences in the recent Reject Fight Night X Sajam Slam tournament. Read that piece here.

Flayon debuted on Jan 8, 2023 as part of the inaugural HOLOSTARS English generation, TEMPUS. HOLOSTARS is the male branch of hololive.

It was on his debut stream where he first shared his love for fighting games to his fanbase, the "Machiroons." As a Virtual YouTuber, he primarily broadcasts games on his YouTube channel, but he is also a performer.

Street Fighter 6 just moved up there. The first one that comes to mind is probably Melty Blood: Current Code because it's an amalgamation of all the Melty Bloods into one.

Then I think I would just say Under Night In-Birth/UNICLR or Under Night In-Birth II. So, Under Night In-Birth as a whole. And then BlazBlue Continuum Shift II. And then number 5, what would I think that'd be? My guilty pleasure, probably: BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle.

With Continuum Shift, I felt a sort of kinship with it. Because, you know, I mentioned I was playing on the PSP and PS Vita? I played Calamity Trigger on the PSP. And then I felt a special connection with that because it was so— I respect them putting it on it, but it was very bitcrush, of course, because it's on the PSP. So everything would sound like it's out of a potato or something.

But I really liked it, still. And then also, I eventually ended up, like, breaking. I slept with my PSP on an air vent for some reason as a kid. So then the screen broke, but it was still playable. So I was still trying to, like, play while the screen was broken. So then Continuum Shift II came out. I'm like, that's perfect. And then there's Unlimited Hazama, which I guess would be my first real experience with an SNK-type boss. Where they're just really hard, and then you can't really make an excuse and you just get your ass beaten. I guess maybe that's Stockholm Syndrome or a suspension bridge effect.

[For] BlazBlue Cross Tag, it fills that little itch for me that I want to see multiple fighters fighting. But also, it was just really fun. Because everything in that game, actually, I think is kind of like— Bro, everyone can blow you up if you just let them. I have, like, 200 hours on that. I think just going to the lobby, just fighting endlessly. And I think my team was Linne from Under Night In-Birth. And then Hakumen from BlazBlue. The GOAT. And they just work well together, at least for me. So, I'd say those are the first five that come to mind.

Oh, top 3, oh my gosh, okay. I think Freedom Wars was one of them. Freedom Wars [was] on the PS Vita, but now it got a remake on Steam.

It used to be Pokémon, but now Pokémon is a bit more accessible, so I'm really grateful for that.

I guess it would be games that are associated with... lewd content. The reason why I like those games is, yeah, they have the lewd stuff, but they really have a lot of heartfelt stories behind it. So any game like that, I would say, but I put that as, like, a wide margin of games I do, because I'd love to play games like that and go, yeah, yeah, there's that stuff too, but I want to point you attention to the characters, the themes, or even, in those games a lot, the main character is having a mental breakdown, and I like it.

I think maybe Fate/Unlimited Codes. It's sort of like a fighter, but also not. It's like, it was very fighter-esque, I don't know if you could compare it to, like, Bleach Blade Battlers or Bleach: Shattered Blade on the Wii or something like that. But I guess those three, I'd ask for.

Yes, yes, yes, you got it, you got it, you got it!

Stuff like, well, HuniePop is one very specific… There's heartfelt stories you can find in that, but that one, that one's a bit more, like… There are two games I play, HuniePop and Trouble Days.

Trouble Days is more like a loner guy learning to love himself and then appreciate someone from somewhere else and then fight for what he wants to be selfish. [He introduces] the girl to his culture, and then they both embrace it together. He has his succubus, but I think that's what most eroges are like, and they also have to have, like, the main character has to fight his flaws.

At one point, I swear, the girl was about to go somewhere else because he was pitying himself and going, “I'm not good enough for her. I'm not.” But everyone does that. But that's what I think is very prevalent in stories like that, because guys like, that's a flaw that may follow you through the rest of your life. And that's what Trouble Days is.

HuniePop, self-explanatory. I have nothing to say. I like Audrey!

Flayon not only regularly streams games to his fans, but he also performs as a musical artist. His most viewed track is his cover of Märchen Boyfriend and Märchen Girlfriend with Banzoin Hakka. It has garnered over half a million views.

If you had to pick favorites from your songs, which would they be?

It'd probably be, um, because there's a favorite I choose, but it's not released yet. There is Orthodoxia by Guchiry, I like that. It's really fast. And Guchiry's music, a lot of the Vocaloid with stuff like that is they will have all this music, but they have stories. But they don't fully spell it out for you. You have to sort of pinpoint it and go, "oh, this is how it goes."

The other one would probably be GRATEFUL★DEAD★MARCH, which is a character song for Kanato Sakamaki from Diabolik Lovers. It's quite similar to, like, the games I listed before like, Trouble Days. It's the same sort of thing, but it's, like, for girls, right? But the character's very well written, and his voice actor, Kaji Yuki, is very famous.

It's seven minutes, but it's fun. It's a very fun song, and I really like those, because I guess with, like, modern songs or in anime songs, even they all follow, like, a similar curve, but when you're doing, like, a character song or a Vocaloid, they just go, like that, and it's really fun. So I guess I would say those two, just because they're very fun to sing, but also they're very performative.

Hmm, I think probably for me would be DEAD WORLD, and that one's done by famous producer Utsu-P. That one I did with Banzoin Hakka, Gavis Bettel, and then me. I really like rock songs, so me and Bettel were very happy.

And then I think, I like the feel of Woven Fates, which was done by Lilypichu.

And then if I had to pick a third, maybe, hmm, I think, I like ARMIS’ Bloodhounds.

And then maybe one more, um, Banzoin Hakka's Shattered Wings, his original song, his second, I think. Those would be my favorites. But if I had to pick, DEAD WORLD comes out on top.

What can you share about what goes on behind the scenes?

There's always going to be a divide, right? Because I'm an ace mecha pilot.

So when I'm not streaming, I'm out there fighting in the mech, for example. But when it comes to streaming itself, yeah, you usually just put out a schedule. Or if you're like me, maybe you might forget to or get too tired. I think this job is... it's a very 24-hour job. You have to be on the call ready for if ever your manager needs you, or there may be like an event that pops up where they go, “Hey, we need someone to fill in for this. Are you able to do that?”

So there's a lot of that, but you also have to plan your content. You have to go, this is what I want to do. And then you also have to plan at a time to go like, “Hey, this is what I want to do, but it may not be marketable. Am I okay? Am I willing to take that hit?” Or maybe just because of how the nature of everything is, like I can't go with that content plan anymore,” for example.

So like, if I wanted to play more Trouble Days, that might be difficult because of the nature of that type of game in general, as much as I'd love to, right? Because there's a lot of moving parts here. When you're just one person, you can't just like strong brute force and go, you need to do my way. I think that's the thing about a company in general, or even like if you're working retail, you can't go in there and tell people what you're going to do. You have to adapt to the situations around you is what I would say.

So there's a lot of there's a lot of stream prep. There's a lot of schedules. You have to make sure every time you're like, I'm playing this game on this day, you gotta let your manager know. We have to obviously check the schedule and make sure you don't overlap with big events.

Behind the scenes, I think a lot of it really hits for big events, like for my [3D] showcase. There's a lot of communication and a lot of moving parts. For example, I didn't control the camera during that. There are staff that will make sure they do their best to get the best shots of you. When they do that, you can really see how chill everyone on the staff is.

Everyone comes from very different backgrounds, but most people working here are here for the love of the game. So it's very nice to see, but I would say a lot of it's just a lot of prep because you need to prepare for the future. You need to know what works, and then you need to be prepared because what you made work may not work tomorrow.

There always could be someone better than you; if you view it in a competitive sense like that, it's just how it is. I'm very awesome, but I'm pretty sure there are like five indies out there that already do what I want to do, but like 200% better. And that's okay.

So I think it's having a steel resolve like that, then also trying not to disappoint your fans, but also respect yourself. It kind of reminds me of going back to school. And also just growing as a person. So I'd say it's pretty much like that. It's a lot of set-up in the background for big events.

Feels good! I look at him and I go, "This guy feels like a fish out of water." He's prepared, but he's not prepared in the right direction. But I think I came through pretty well.

When I did my last debut watch along to rewatch my first debut, it was like, "Yeah, we're kind of the same." Whereas most people, when they debut, they drop their personality. But mine's still kind of there. At best, my voice will drop, but that's just like my condition. So it feels good.

I also look at my debut, and I still go, yeah, I think I like how I did that. Maybe like some changes. I think if I had to make some changes, if possible, I would have done my showcase a different way because I like theater.

My original showcase was more like a lot of idol performances, which I really like. But if I could do that, I would change that one to be more like a story or theater. That's what I originally wanted it to be like. But for the most part, I think I made what I could of it. And I did pretty well. And everyone seemed to like it. The staff was very helpful with it, too.

I think I look back on it with pride. Luckily, not too much embarrassment. I'm like, I'm cool. I'm chill. I'm secure with who I am. It's kind of like, “that's me.” Pretty much.

I want to beat you guys up!

Some of my fans are really timid because I can just say anything out of pocket or just say "macaroni and cheese" out of nowhere, and they'll go [woah!] They're like cats and dogs. They're very funny.

I think I have my fans to thank a lot because I'm very stubborn. So if streams weren't fun for me, then you could sort of feel it. My dopamine would be my fans and messing with them because they're like a cat. They get very shocked, or like when they get zoomies, and they run around at like 3 a.m. It's like that. It's fun to mess with them. I'm totally not a bully at all.