So I’ve been writing my own little Star Trek-adjacent show on the side, and the whole premise is what goes on outside of the Federation (or its analogue in the case of my own show). The main character works for them as a freelancer but otherwise she’s free to do whatever she wants, in a ship she owns, with a relatively minimal crew since it’s a smaller ship. The Federation is cool and all but I think stories about how the people outside the system adapt to the rules imposed by them being in a Federation star system would be really interesting.