In my Sword Spirit Four AU, Shadow is still kinda around. (Not romantic really, I just like exploring complex relationships and traumatizing my fav blorbos)
Gonna share some pics, will also have text under for what's written on the pages, and expanding upon the details.
A sword spirit doesn't exactly need a shadow, so he's more free to be his own person now.
Weaker powers but he still has some
Bag with basic survival supplies
Who needs a hat tail? Shadow braid!!
I think link had freckles before, and shadows form copied that, but the sword changed Links freckles to some of his spirit markings instead. So it's funny that Shadow has more of the OG link details than link does XD
Normally his eyes are blue, but stronger emotions can make them turn red. He could do it intentionally if he wants to as well.
The weaker powers applies to later, after FSA.
His clothes and bag also apply to later, since they're necessary for what he goes through.
"wonder what happens if I touch this sword?"
So Four got sucked into the sword at the end of FS, and was kinda stuck in it for 400 years... Shadow has always existed, as long as Four has essentially, but until Four was sucked in, he wasn't really much more than the walking copy/counterpart in the dark world. Getting stuck in the sword started to sever part of the connection between their souls and gave Shadow more agency, little by little. So as the years pass, Shadow is slowly developing into a person, and his power is festering. He doesn't have any way to release it yet, so he's just a walking ball of pent of energy and this odd curiosity that most shadows like him don't have. He's not fully aware or conscious yet, just a single celled blob following unusual urges without any sense or restraint.
Then he follows the urge to touch the sword. As links counterpart, he's just as capable of pulling it. As he's said before "I'm the hero link!" A lot of his later behaviors are copying what he'd seen from his counterpart and directions given from Ganon or Vaati because he wasn't sure at the time what a friend or foe really was. He still followed urges.
Well, the sword finally frees link, and the spell making him a sword spirit is completed. Their soul bond is basically snapped, holding on only by their life forces.
Shadow: suddenly aware he exists.
Link: doesn't realize he's free yet
So shadow now has consciousness and awareness, but still only knows what all he's experienced. Self control isn't a concept to him yet. Confusion definitely is. Link is disoriented and dazed for a little while. He wasn't sleeping for those 400 years, he was conscious, waiting, drifting along. He could hear outside of the sword and could somewhat see, but he couldn't get out or so anything. It was like someone being paralyzed completely from head to toe but awake the whole time. 400 years of that and managing not to lose his mind watching the walls crumble with age and all your family die off later, and he's reasonably pretty checked out. He does eventually come to and realize he can move and stuff tho.
Shadow on the other hand is basically a snapshot. Right before most of their bond snapped is the image of link his body adopts, so he gets the long hair (400 years of growth!) and whatever outfit Links spirit kinda thought he would be wearing??? The form he takes is now set, and he can mostly change it how he pleases. Not like shape shifting, but in terms of dressing himself, cutting his hair, etc. whatever link does to his appearance from now on doesn't affect Shadow.
Watching your light counterpart have a breakdown, cut his hair, and run off with a magic shield.
Yeah that's basically what happened next. Link is having a time. The hair had to be sacrificed. Fun fact: I imagine he cut it with the four sword in the same way Mulan cut her hair in the OG Disney movie.
Shadow is just kinda, there for a bit. He doesn't really want to interrupt whatever is going on, but Link leaves the sword so he'll have to be back for it later. He can't exactly go very far from it.
While he's gone, Ganon makes himself known to the newly sentient Shadow and is like "hey, I need you to do this for me" and shadow is like "uhhhh okay?"
Link comes back having released Dot from the shield so he can get the sword and Shadow yoinks her. Hence the start of FSA.
The iconic shadow look was entirely just him having no idea what to do with all that hair but not wanting to do whatever it is Link did to his. He hated the look but he had more important matters to deal with.
This is the point where he's figuring out how to be a person, and how to be his own person. He's making chaos and discovering the light world and all the possibilities. Everything is new and fun.
Then comes his interest in Vio. He thinks the purple link would enjoy all the fun he has too.
Vio figured out how to braid his hair smoke stuff.
Link got the headband back when Shadow "died"
Vio picked up Fours iconic headband to keep his choppy haircut out of his eyes when he was reading. He let Shadow have it cause his bangs were way worse.
Which time Shadow died is up for interpretation. It could be the headband just couldn't go back to the dark world with Shadow, so it was left in the temple of winds. Or he dropped and/or threw it at Vio on the bridge in the volcano. Have fun with whichever makes you happier.
Too much hair, and the braid keeps it in a single manageable tail rather than him looking like the girl from the ring.
Post FSA, Link and Dot found the harp of ages and sent themselves back to their original times. Shadow had been just chilling in the dark world, but being tied to Link somewhat, space and time decided he wasn't supposed to be there. He started being yanked around through various times and ages, sometimes for just a few minutes, sometimes for several months. He never knew when the next time he'd be rejected from the universe would be. He learned to be prepared for anything.
The victim of the narrative bit is also purely post FSA. In FSA he definitely does some fucked up things, but by now he's chilled out and is just really tired of being yoinked around.
Once LU starts, Shadow starts to run across the chain sometimes. His physical timeline is still linear with Fours, so it's a few years post FSA for him before he starts to notice them when he's thrown around. Their time discrepancies seem to attract his own, so the universe decides he must belong with this bullshit that's happening over there.
He does not belong over there so he keeps his distance for the most part. He's glad to see Four again, but doesn't doubt the Chain would try to decapitate him first and ask questions later. He has to take special care to avoid Twilight, though if he is detected, the Rancher doesn't seem to suspect him as a threat yet.
Since being pulled out of the dark world again, Shadows grown a little more resistant to light, almost like he's more hylian than before. It still weakens his powers though.
If he's out in direct light for longer periods of time, he has some adverse side-effects such as nausea, hot flashes, dizziness, and in extreme cases, body tremors.
In the case of Dink asking Shadow to join him
Dink: tf you mean no? Don't you want revenge on your light?
Shadow: link would have to know what he's doing half the time to do this on purpose.
This isn't calling Four dumb I promise. It's mostly meaning that Four going back in time may have caused Shadows situation, but that wasn't the intention, and it's more the universe's fault than Fours.
Immediately after this, shadow gets yoinked through time again before Dink can get mad.
