SableNook

SableNook is the het ship between Sable Able and Tom Nook from the Animal Crossing fandom.

Canon
Sable and Tom had been friends in their childhood, with Sable considering Tom a surrogate older brother. They would often stargaze when their town didn't yet have an observatory, where they would make-up their own constellations. Sable had also once heard Tom sing and found his singing voice to be beautiful. More than anything, however, they shared their dreams and aspirations with each other: Tom wanted to build the biggest store in the world and Sable wanted to sell the cutest clothes in town. The two went as far as to make a time capsule containing letters featuring these dreams and buried it somewhere in town.

Tragedy would strike when Sable's parents were killed, leaving her to take over their tailor shop and having to raise her little sisters Mable and Label, the latter of whom she had a falling out with and moved to the city. In the face of this, Sable held onto her friendship with Tom, as it was the most important relation in her life and he'd been there through other bad times. But the raccoon's need to follow his dreams drew him to also go to the city. As much as she wanted to, Sable's commitment to running the shop and raising Mable meant she couldn't go with him, and she feared that the nature of the city would crush Tom's pure nature. While Tom may have cared for Sable, he had to try and fulfill his dream at some point, so ultimately he made the big move and left.

In the days that followed, Sable would wish for Tom's pure spirit to be protected before falling asleep every night. But despite now being apart, Tom and Sable maintained contact with each other by regularly sending letters to each other beginning in the January after Tom left. These letters told Sable of the hardships Tom was facing in the city. In the November of that year, Sable instead received a cedar box from him that contained a pair of fancy, orange scissors, as well as a message wishing her Happy Birthday. This made Sable realize she forgot her own birthday amidst her work, and also made her consider that Tom not only remembered but spent his meager pay to get her something nice - which made Sable cry in joy. It's said that Sable continues to use those scissors and she freaks out anytime someone suggests replacing them.

Tom eventually returned to town, his dreams having been shattered by his time in the city. He opened a store next to Sable's tailor shop and this gave the hedgehog a chance to be there for Tom in hardship just as he was for her. However, just as Sable feared, Tom's pure soul was gone and he claimed to her that "dreams were nothing in the face of money". At this, Sable realized that the Tom she knew was now nothing more than a memory. The two would drift apart, their friendship now gone.

Despite their friendship being over, Sable still wondered if Tom was lonely due to him often holding back his emotions. She also still tried to help Tom, on occasion. Inspired by an incident involving town curator Blathers and his sister Celeste, Sable made Tom some clothes for the colder months, but he didn't feel worthy of them as his shop wasn't as profitable as he wanted. As a compromise, Sable only made clothes for Tom anytime he expanded the shop.

Fanon
SableNook is a decently popular ship for the Animal Crossing fandom. When the story of the two was first told in Wild World, fans were quick to pick up on the romantic undertones of their relationship. Their further drawn to this ship due to the hardships that the two faced in parallel with each other. This ship is rivaled by ReddNook.

With the apparent softening of Tom's attitude as of New Horizons, fans of the ship consider this a prime time for him and Sable to make amends and start over. Fan works of the ship tend to show how this kind of scenario might happen, usually involving Tom feeling guilt over leaving Sable when she needed help (among other things).

On AO3, this ship doesn't have many works about it, with only 19 tagged works as of now. It' Sable's most written ship and Tom's third-most behind ReddNook & MayorNook.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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