Ages of the Fake TPOT contestants/On age averaging

## Age-averaging

**Age-averaging** (henceforth abbreviated as *ayaying*) is a process that happens when a supernatural, extraterrestrial being manipulates the physical properties of an object and changes their physical age to be closer to those of the others they are competing with. (Yes, objects have ages in this particular headcanon, just as they do in all my others; and their ages are similar to those of humans.) Oddly enough, that's about it; in most cases, the objects don't feel any difference. In fact, ayaying has only been directly alluded to in the twenty-seventh episode of *Fake TPOT*, where it became a minor plot point for several characters.

The concept of age-averaging is not that new; I'd first mentioned it seven years ago in *Before BFDI*. Then early last year I expanded on it whilst working on *Real-Life BFB*, my 1970s headcanon for the series on which *Fake TPOT* is chronologically based—it was rather strange for a thousand-year-old character to be competing in a ~~reality~~ object show alongside someone who is just a child. To explain things, I then felt it necessary to introduce the idea that, before becoming a part of the series, the age of each contestant is averaged out so that their relationships with one another make more sense, so to speak.

In the series there have been several instances of ayaying, done to varying degrees and by different people. To make this page more navigable, I have grouped all the ayayed characters according to which and how many such progresses they undergo during their time in (and out of) the competition.

Here are all the ayayings that at least one contestant went through during BFDI; the groups of contestants affected by this particular passage will be mentioned under the later headers. To avoid confusion due to the large number of similar-looking years (*e.g.*, the Ayay of 1963 vs. of 1964), I have opted to use Greek letters as the official names of the ayayings, as has been in the practice in the sciences many a time in the past.

* For BFDI (1962–1964)
	+ **Α** (Alpha) - Done on 31 October 1961.
	+ **Α2** (Alpha Again) - Done on 6 April 1963.
* For BFDIA (1964–1965)
	+ **Β** (Beta) - Done on 1 June 1964.
* For IDFB (1968): None*.*
* For BFB (1969–1973)
	+ **Γ** (Gamma) - Done on 30 September 1969.
	+ **Δ** (Delta) - Done on 14 December 1971.
	+ **Ζ** (Zeta) - Done on 27 October 1973.
* For TPOT (1973–1990)
	+ **Ε** (Epsilon) - Done on 1 December 1972.
	+ **Ε2** (Epsilon Again) - Done on 7 December 1972.
	+ **Η** (Eta) - Done on 1 January 1977.
* For all who have been age-averaged in the past
	+ **Θ** (Theta) - Done on 31 October 1979.
	+ **Ι** (Iota) - Done on 1 January 1982.

## Alpha (BFDI, 1961–1963)

### Alpha (BFDI, 1961)

* Date: 31 October 1961.
* Affected: Those competing in BFDI, or **Group A, Group B, Group C** and **Group D**.
* Carried out by: *unknown*.
* Method: Averaged from the mid-point between each contestant's true date of birth and the median date of birth of those being age-averaged (13 July 1943).

### Alpha Again (BFDI 17, 1963)

* Date: 6 April 1963.
* Affected: Those who are up for voting to début in BFDI, or **Group E, Group F, Group G** and **Group H**.
* Carried out by: the Announcer.
* Method: Averaged from the mid-point between each contestant's true date of birth and the median date of birth of those age-averaged in 1961 (13 July 1943).
	+ Exceptions: Remote was age-averaged through the date of birth of her first iteration, 1 March 1943; and Robot Flower was age-averaged to the median date itself (since there was no realistic frame of reference for her character).

## Beta (BFDIA, 1964)

* Date: 1 June 1964.
* Affected: Those who are up for voting to compete in BFDIA, or all groups from A through K: **Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G,** **Group** **H, Group I, Group J** and **Group K**.
* Carried out by: *unknown*.
* Method:
	+ For those débuting in BFDI: De-aged 1.2 years (one year and three months).
	+ For those débuting in BFDIA: Averaged from the mid-point between each contestant's true date of birth and the new median date of birth of all BFDI(A) potential contestants (27 November 1943), to which two years were added for the second season (27 November 1945).
	+ Remote and Robot Flower were ayayed in some other way.

## Gamma and delta (BFB, 1969–1971)

### Gamma (BFB, 1969)

* Date: 30 September 1969.
* Affected: Those competing in BFB, or all groups from A through N: **Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H, Group I, Group J,** **Group K, Group L, Group M** and **Group N**.
* Carried out by: *unknown*.
* Method: De-aged 1.3 years (one year and four months).
	+ Robot Flower was ayayed in some other way; she was de-aged 2.6 years (two years and eight months).

### Delta (BFB 16, 1971)

* Date: 14 December 1971.
* Affected: Those who are up for voting to début in BFB (later TPOT), or **Group O** and **Group P**.
* Carried out by: Four.
* Method: Averaged from the mid-point between each contestant's true date of birth and the new median date of birth (27 July 1944), to which four years were added for the fourth season (27 July 1948).

14 December 1971 – 6 December 1972
 **Winner** | 8 June 1925

## Epsilon (TPOT, 1972)

### Epsilon (TPOT originals)

* Date: 1 December 1972.
* Affected: Those competing in TPOT, or **Group A, Group B, Group E, Group F, Group I** and **Group L**.
* Carried out by: Two.
* Method: De-aged exactly two years.

### Epsilon Again (TPOT débutants)

* Date: 7 December 1972.
* Affected: Winner and Price Tag, the sole members of **Group O**.
* Carried out by: Two.
* Method: De-aged exactly two years.

7 December 1972 – 31 December 1976
 **Winner** | 14 January

## Zeta (EXIT of BFB, 1973)

* Date: 27 October 1973.
* Affected: Those who are still in the EXIT at the end of its existence, or **Group C, Group G, Group J** and **Group M**.
* Carried out by: Four.
* Method: De-aged exactly four years.

## Eta (TPOT, 1977)

* Date: 1 January 1977.
* Affected: Those who are still competing in TPOT as of this date, or **Group A, Group E, Group I** and **Group O**.
* Carried out by: Two.
* Method: De-aged exactly two years.

## Theta and Iota (in general, 1979–1982)

### Theta (1979)

* Date: 31 October 1979.
* Affected: All characters who have been age-averaged before, or all groups from A through P: **Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H, Group I, Group J, Group K, Group L, Group M, Group N, Group O** and **Group P**.
* Carried out by: *unknown*, by accident.
* Method: De-aged exactly five years.

### Iota (1982)

* Date: 1 January 1982.
* Affected: All characters who have been age-averaged before, or all groups from A through P: **Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H, Group I, Group J, Group K, Group L, Group M, Group N, Group O** and **Group P**. It should be noted that for all the still-in contestants this ayaying occurred in death; Two did not recover them at their present ages until 12 April 1982. All others were alive and recovered at the very beginning of the year.
* Carried out by: Two.
* Method:
	+ For those competing as of this date: De-aged exactly five years.
	+ For those not competing as of this date: De-aged exactly 2.5 years, *i.e.*, five divided by two.

## Never (Group Q)

The last lettered group, Group Q, consists of contestants who for some reason do not qualify for being age-averaged. This group can theoretically include anyone in the world who has never participated in BFDI or has never had their age averaged, in addition to these known few:

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 I don't have the details because the calculations have been forgotten.
2. ↑ Age-averaged in death; not recovered until 5 August 1964.
3. ↑ Age-averaged in death; not recovered until 20 August 1964.
4. ↑ Age-averaged in death; not recovered until 12 August 1965.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Liy never experienced 1973–1981.
6. ↑ May not be correct, but this is my guess.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Age-averaged in death; not recovered until 15 March 1977.
8. ↑ Nonexisty does not exist, so he has no date of birth.

**Fake TPOT** [V]