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Very nice, happy tree!

Thanks for the words of encouragement, the tree is doing very well. I've done a few extra neem oil / dish soap treatments after the last scale was found just as a preventative.

The styling of the tree has me scratching my head. I'm not really sure what the previous owner was going for and I'm thinking there may be some drastic cuts in the future to bring the tree towards a designated path. I was able to reroute the aerial roots to either be perpendicular with the substrate or slightly taper from the trunk. It helps, but since it's my first bonsai, I'm thinking thrice and cutting... well none so far.

Where would you guys cut? What style jumps out at you? Looking for different viewpoints from experienced keepers.

To me, the main structure looks pretty good. Just a little overgrown.

I would probably in early summer defoliate the whole thing (Remeber to take way the endbuds too). Then trim & wire. It can probably loose the outer 20% without any drastic cuts, and look pretty good.

After contemplating the potential styling for a couple weeks, I think I've decided to go towards a banyan style tree. The Ficus has nice aerial roots that can be styled, the current branches don't lend towards a more traditional style of bonsai, and I really want to go after the idea of making a bonsai resemble a mature tree. In this case, a mature and overgrown slice of Ficus forest.

Here's some photos from Google that show the style I'll be going after. Wide canopy, aerial roots to create multiple trunks, small foliage to make the structure look massive, and a shallow tray for the pot.

So far my thoughts are that the tree needs to be trimmed, repotted, and defoliated. This is a lot for a tree at once and I'm thinking a repot and light trim in the next few weeks, see how the tree responds and go from there. Thoughts?