I was fat, then borderline anorexic, now trying to look aesthetic (w/photos)

[Otoslavodnasm]

(english is not my first language, so except some weirdness in this text. also, this is a throwaway, i've been here for months and i've read the FAQ)

SO.. I used to be very fat in high school. Ridiculously fat. I started dieting when i was in University. I dropped a lot of weight, but i always saw myself "chubby". Years passed. I went through a bad breakup and i dropped A LOT of weight. I was a skeleton. 125lbs and i'm 5'9"

Months later, i started bulking and gained weight. Then i stopped going to the gym, gained some fat and now, i'm not skinny but, my arms and back, etc are very skinny and i have a lot of fat

What i'm asking is, what should i do? Should I bulk? (i don't have muscles, i've been eating in a surplus for a month and now i have some muscle, but, yes, is almost nothing), cut? (i have a LOT of fat, but i'm afraid that i'l look bad if i lose weight without muscles), maintenance?

I'm 171 lbs now and i want to look amazing. THE PHOTOS
Thanks

[riffdex]

Just need to focus on bulking. Honestly, you don't have much fat. I know from personal experience it is hard when you used to be really overweight because you see the small amount of fat you do have and that's what you focus on. But yeah, bulk. Cut any and you'll look like crap. Fastest route to aesthetic (which is what you wanted) would be to bulk now, imo. Do a small calorie surplus to minimize fat gains.

[beiko]

its not always bulking vs cutting. focus on getting some muscle on your body right now. eat at maintenance or small surplus. cutting with no muscle basically means going back to being skinny.

[Otoslavodnasm]

its not always bulking vs cutting. focus on getting some muscle on your body right now. eat at maintenance or small surplus. cutting with no muscle basically means going back to being skinny.

I was adviced strongly in another thread to do a slow cut. i think i'll eat at a maint, thanks, man!