The ending of Star Trek: Lower Decks doesn't have to be the end of the characters
With the recent news of the cancellation of Star Trek: Lower Decks, fans have started asking if this means we'll never see the characters again, along with hoping they'll turn up in the future. With Lower Decks being an animated show, it's less likely for the animated characters to show up on in the future; however, as proven by the successful crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, their live-action counterparts could fit in with virtually any new or current iteration of Star Trek.
Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid made a wonderful team on their lone episode of Strange New Worlds, and it would be easy to seem them both segue to live-action. More than that, it would be welcome. Bringing the other characters to life would be a great way to continue the characters' journeys since the series won't continue.
Jack Quaid's character, Brad Boimler, could easily become another captain and it would be exciting to see Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) climb the ranks to admiral while keeping the sense of humor she has brought to Lower Decks. In fact, having at lest these two characters in live-action would inject a note of levity into future Star Trek shows that could use it to break up the darkness. On top of that, we could also see the more serious side of the characters.
Simply put, Lower Decks has created some smart, interesting characters, and there's no reason why they have to leave the franchise. With Discovery ending, there have been talks of Captain Burnham, Saru, and Tilly showing up in the future. The same should be said for the crew of the Cerritos. We've seen them in animation; now let's bring their live countparts to other shows and allow them to continue growing in their journeys to becoming better Starfleet officers.