Deep Dish Nine

Deep Dish Nine is a trope specific to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fandom. Deep Dish Nine is a semi-collaborative alternate universe where the characters of Deep Space Nine are all humans in a 21st century pizza parlor, instead of a multi-species cast in the 24th century. Some elements of the Deep Dish Nine universe are almost universally agreed upon (for example, that Captain Benjamin Sisko is the owner of the pizza parlor), while others vary from fan to fan. 
The trope originated on tumblr as part of the second wave of fandom from after the series aired. The tumblr blogs Deep Dish 9 and Deep Dish Nine Archive contain most of the content for this trope. The origin appears to be a tumblr post by LadyYateXel where she posted screencaps of DS9 characters with the caption, "They all look like pizza delivery people. And I love them so much." (Accessed July 9, 2020) This post credits LadyYateXel's post as the origin of the AU. (Accessed July 9, 2020)
==Fan Interpretations==
Deep Dish Nine has developed its own fanon to incorporate the themes of the series into a wildly different setting. Although the setting is 21st century Earth, some fan writers choose to reinterpret the political boundaries so that Bajor and Cardassia are countries on Earth instead of different planets. Others choose to write the various species as ethnic groups or members of rival organizations. The Dominion is often reinterpreted as a rival restaurant. Some fans like to incorporate in elements of other Star Trek series - sometimes Kathryn Janeway owns a coffee shop or Picard and Q cross paths. The topic of what sort of vehicles are an appropriate subsitute for canon ships like the Defiant is also frequently discussed.
Some characters have fairly consistent roles throughout interpretations. Julian Bashir is a medical student, usually working part time at the Deep Dish Nine pizzeria. The genetic enhancement plotline is adapted for a contemporary setting in multiple ways; kittyknowsthings writes an autistic Bashir who was forced into abusive ABA therapy as a child. Tinsnip describes her interpretation:
:"So there isn’t any gengineering. But there are overachievers, and there are helicopter parents, and parents who live vicariously through their kids. Julian’s dad is kind of a fuckup, even in this world [...] But by God, when he and Amsha had a kid, this was his chance to do something amazing, his kid was gonna set the world on fire -
:And Julian really wasn’t much good at anything, just this very cute but very goofy little toddler, clumsy, slow speaker, very loving but not good for anything."
Odo is usually imagined as either a police officer or a security guard. It's common to have stories or fanart where Gul Dukat is reimagined as an annoying customer who harasses Kira Nerys. When Quark is included, he still owns a nearby bar. 
Other characters have more variance in the roles they play. Kasidy Yates rarely features in fanfiction, but Vyc portrays her as a long-haul trucker instead of a 24th century freighter captain. The semi-official rules of the AU as outlined by the primary tumblr account erase all canon character deaths, which means fans often refer to Jadzia Dax and Ezri Dax as sisters. The nature of the Trill species is less consistently interpreted, with some writing Trills as a cultural or religious group. Kira Nerys's history in the Bajoran resistance is interpreted in multiple ways. Some fanwriters take the no deaths rule as an opportunity to write about less popular and even one-off characters like Tora Ziyal, Weyoun 6, and the baby changeling. 
== Fan Comments==
==Controversy==
A fan described an incident in this fandom. See Teacup plagiarism in a fandom within a fandom by KatiaSwift (2021).
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
* Deep Dish Nine, 44k word story by LadyYateXel
:The story is part of a larger series of eight works, Deep Dish Nine (series). LadyYateXel's series description explains elements of the Deep Dish Nine 'verse.
* Rewiring series by LadyYateXel and tinsnip -- A Garak/Bashir focused take on the canon episode The Wire
* Complementing Baggage by kittyknowsthings -- A spinoff of the Rewiring series
* Deep Dish Nine (Vyc Version) by Vyc - A mix of gen and Garak/Bashir stories
* Me and My Ghosts by tinsnip - Gen, Quark & Jadzia Dax go on a road trip.
* Working Overtime by Codydarkstalker -- Garak/Bashir, one of the longer works for the trope
* Hello Again by tinsnip - Kira Nerys and Odo meet up after a long time apart.
* saccharine dd9 shit ahoy, archived by vortaesthetic, a backstory for Weyoun 6
===Fanart===
* by natashampa on tumblr
* by kingofthegarbage
* by Lady Yate-xel
*, a fancomic by Lady Yate-xel
===Meta & Headcanons===
* by ninelifed
* by warpedpoint
* by letstalkabouttrek
===Other===
* by chrisfenton -- A custom game for Arduboy
* Deep Space Nine Is A Pizza Shop?, a fanvid by shippersguide on tumblr
==Additional Image Gallery==
File:Dominion pizza logo.png|The logo for "Dominion's Pizza", designed by muiromem in a reblog of LadyYateXel's original post
File:DD9 Odo.png|Fanart of DD9 Odo by onetobeamup on tumblr.
File:Jake sim.png|A sim of Jake Sisko posted to the DeepDishNineSims tumblr. As of October 2020, this is the most popular post on the tumblr. It was posted with the caption: "That classic 90′s Bowling Alley Carpet vibe".
File:Human garak sim.png|Another sim by DeepDishNineSims, this one referencing Garak/Bashir tropes with a human!Garak.
==Archives & Fannish Links==
* Works tagged Deep Dish Nine on AO3
* Content search for Deep Dish Nine on tumblr
* Tumblr blogs: Deep Dish 9, Deep Dish Nine Archive, and Deep Dish Nine Sims
* Deep Dish Nine (Fanfic) on TV Tropes
==References==
Category:Star Trek Tropes & Genres
Category:2020 Featured Articles
Category:Food & Recipes
Category:Star Trek Fanworks
Category:Star Trek Fandom Glossary
Category:2013 Fanworks
Category:2010s Fanworks
Category:Star Trek DS9
Category:Shared Universes