In the Beginning, there was Sharon Best, and she created the Aurora Universe, and she saw that it was good. She created the Velorians and the Arions, male and female she created them (but mostly female), and they were fruitful and multiplied. Oh, how they multiplied!
So did the stories about them, through generations of Aurora Universe sites and generations of other writers inspired by the fantasy of erotic goddesses with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men -- yet who often made the wildest dreams of those mortal men come true. It was like nothing else on the Internet, and soon attracted collaborators -- one of the earliest being Moxie, now the only veteran of what is now referred to as he first generation.
Like all good things, the Aurora Universe evolved. From a simple fantasy, it grew into an elaborate epic of the war between Velor and Aria, a struggle for Heaven and Earth between godlike races. Without losing touch with its roots in erotic fantasy, it became a literary and even an ethical exercise in the hands of Sharon herself and such second and third generation writers as S.T. Mac, A.K., Lisa Binkley, Tarot Barnes and Brantley Thompson Elkins.
Others, like Toomey Starks and Ed Howdershelt, were inspired to do their own takes on the superheroine theme, while at the same time inspiring and enriching straight AU fiction. Starks, like S.T. Mac, alas, is no longer with us, although their works live on at archive web sites. Ed Howdershelt has moved on, but still has an online fiction shop. For a few months in 2003, it appeared that the Aurora Universe itself would no longer be with us: Sharon and her site vanished from the Internet. There was much panic, and sadness, and even anger.
But the Aurora Universe was reborn, and "Sharon" herself reborn as Shadar, with a new cycle of stories -- including an alternate version of the AU called Other Worlds as well as additions to what Shadar now called Generation 3. Generation 1, which began some time in 1995, as nearly as he can remember, represented the earliest Sharon Best fiction, when the mythology of the AU was in a very primitive stage. Generation 2A had been the Aurora Universe of Sharon's first web site, which attracted the first generation of Other Voices, and lasted until 1998, Generation 2B began with a new site in 1999 and ended April 1, 2003. Much Generation 3 fiction since then has come from collaborations between Shadar and Brantley, but with Brantley often completing and/or reimagining stories that originated on the AUOW site. And in 2017, Shadar launched yet another version with "A Dinner Party."
There were a number of variations of the Aurora Universe early on. The first was that of S.T. Mac (the late Douglas W. MacBeth), who created the Lillith of Velor saga and also invented a language of love for the Velorians. His work, sadly unfinished at his death, is preserved at Infinity Bridge. Another was that of AK, known for his Julie of Velor and Marlen (Arion) stories as well as other superheroine fiction at Julie and Friends. Then came Tarot Barnes, whose own alternate history was appropriately called Alternate Histories, but who is now working on an alternate alternate version. Alex Vincent, a.k.a. The Pacifist, had yet another version, and there were still others by the likes of Greg Pavlik and Joe Haley.
Most of these are now inactive, but their contributions are mostly still available at links here or under Other Voices at the home page, except for Alternate Histories. Shadar has posted occasional new stories, which fit into neither the old AU-2 nor the new AU-2017, at Superwomenmania, as well as at AUOW. But we haven't had any new authors for quite a while... the most recent was True Spartan (Joshua McFarland) who posted three chapters of an AU story at Deviant Art in 2013.
Follow these links (perhaps there will more to come, if we get new recruits):
Canonical History (Illustrated)
Velorian Overture ("Ye Who are the Warriors of Skietra")
Diaboli Fiction by Uberepicure
And for discussion, to take part in the Aurora Universe community: