diff --git a/MakieCore/src/attributes.jl b/MakieCore/src/attributes.jl
index 68d25aa0dcb..e1cfbb93234 100644
--- a/MakieCore/src/attributes.jl
+++ b/MakieCore/src/attributes.jl
@@ -250,14 +250,15 @@ function get_attribute(dict, key, default=nothing)
 end
 
 function merge_attributes!(input::Attributes, theme::Attributes)
-    for (key, value) in theme
+    for (key, value) in attributes(theme)
         if !haskey(input, key)
             input[key] = value
         else
             current_value = input[key]
-            if value isa Attributes && current_value isa Attributes
+            tvalue = to_value(value)
+            if tvalue isa Attributes && current_value isa Attributes
                 # if nested attribute, we merge recursively
-                merge_attributes!(current_value, value)
+                merge_attributes!(current_value, tvalue)
             end
             # we're good! input already has a value, can ignore theme
         end
diff --git a/MakieCore/src/recipes.jl b/MakieCore/src/recipes.jl
index db92b981e05..90151646618 100644
--- a/MakieCore/src/recipes.jl
+++ b/MakieCore/src/recipes.jl
@@ -26,23 +26,12 @@ plotkey(::Nothing) = :scatter
 argtypes(F, tuple::T) where {T <: Tuple} = (F, T)
 
 function create_plot(P::Type{<: Combined{F}}, args, kw) where F
-    if first(args) isa Attributes
-        merge!(kw, attributes(popfirst!(args)))
-    end
-    args_converted = convert_arguments(P, map(to_value, args)...)
-    f_argtypes = argtypes(F, args_converted)
-    return Combined{f_argtypes...}(kw, args)
+    return Combined{F}(kw, args)
 end
 
 function create_plot(P::Type{<:Any}, args, kw)
-    if first(args) isa Attributes
-        merge!(kw, attributes(popfirst!(args)))
-    end
-    args_conv = map(to_value, args)
-    P = plottype(args_conv...)
-    args_converted = convert_arguments(P, args_conv...)
-    ArgTypes = Tuple{typeof.(args_converted)...}
-    return Combined{plotfunc(P),ArgTypes}(kw, args)
+    P = plottype(args...)
+    return Combined{plotfunc(P)}(kw, args)
 end
 
 function create_figurelike end
@@ -50,26 +39,23 @@ function create_figurelike! end
 function figurelike_return end
 function figurelike_return! end
 
-function _create_plot(F, kw, args...)
+function _create_plot(F, attributes, args...)
     P = Combined{F}
-    attributes = Dict{Symbol,Any}(kw)
     figlike, plot_kw, plot_args = create_figurelike(P, attributes, args...)
-    plot = create_plot(P, Any[plot_args...], plot_kw)
+    plot = Combined{F}(plot_args, plot_kw)
     plot!(figlike, plot)
     return figurelike_return(figlike, plot)
 end
 
-function _create_plot!(F, kw, args...)
-    P = Combined{F}
-    attributes = Dict{Symbol,Any}(kw)
-    figlike, plot_kw, plot_args = create_figurelike!(P, attributes, args...)
-    plot = create_plot(P, Any[plot_args...], plot_kw)
+function _create_plot!(F, attributes, args...)
+    figlike, plot_kw, plot_args = create_figurelike!(Combined{F}, attributes, args...)
+    plot = Combined{F}(plot_args, plot_kw)
     plot!(figlike, plot)
     return figurelike_return!(figlike, plot)
 end
 
 function _create_plot!(F, kw, scene::SceneLike, args...)
-    plot = create_plot(Combined{F}, Any[args...], Dict{Symbol,Any}(kw))
+    plot = Combined{F}(args, kw)
     plot!(scene, plot)
     return plot
 end
@@ -211,8 +197,8 @@ macro recipe(theme_func, Tsym::Symbol, args::Symbol...)
         $(funcname)() = not_implemented_for($funcname)
         const $(PlotType){$(esc(:ArgType))} = Combined{$funcname,$(esc(:ArgType))}
         $(MakieCore).plotsym(::Type{<:$(PlotType)}) = $(QuoteNode(Tsym))
-        Core.@__doc__ ($funcname)(args...; kw...) = _create_plot($funcname, kw, args...)
-        ($funcname!)(args...; kw...) = _create_plot!($funcname, kw, args...)
+        Core.@__doc__ ($funcname)(args...; kw...) = _create_plot($funcname, Dict{Symbol, Any}(kw), args...)
+        ($funcname!)(args...; kw...) = _create_plot!($funcname, Dict{Symbol, Any}(kw), args...)
         $(MakieCore).default_theme(scene, ::Type{<:$PlotType}) = $(esc(theme_func))(scene)
         export $PlotType, $funcname, $funcname!
     end
diff --git a/src/figureplotting.jl b/src/figureplotting.jl
index 4d90c0d4699..852ad4150b8 100644
--- a/src/figureplotting.jl
+++ b/src/figureplotting.jl
@@ -103,7 +103,8 @@ function create_axis_from_kw(PlotType, figlike, attributes::Dict, args...)
     else
         preferred_axis_type(PlotType, args...)
     end
-    return AxType(figlike; axis_kw...)
+    bbox = pop!(axis_kw, :bbox, nothing)
+    return _block(AxType, figlike, [], axis_kw, bbox)
 end
 
 function create_figurelike(PlotType, attributes::Dict, args...)
diff --git a/src/interfaces.jl b/src/interfaces.jl
index ebdb636b7da..8de01f8347b 100644
--- a/src/interfaces.jl
+++ b/src/interfaces.jl
@@ -87,7 +87,30 @@ const atomic_function_symbols = (
 const atomic_functions = getfield.(Ref(Makie), atomic_function_symbols)
 const Atomic{Arg} = Union{map(x-> Combined{x, Arg}, atomic_functions)...}
 
-function Combined{Func, ArgTypes}(plot_attributes, args) where {Func, ArgTypes}
+
+
+function convert_arguments!(plot::Combined{F}) where {F}
+    P = Combined{F,Any}
+    function on_update(args...)
+        nt = convert_arguments(P, args...)
+        P, converted = apply_convert!(P, plot.attributes, nt)
+        for (obs, new_val) in zip(plot.converted, converted)
+            obs[] = new_val
+        end
+    end
+    onany(on_update, plot, plot.args...)
+    return
+end
+
+
+function Combined{Func}(args::Tuple, plot_attributes::Dict) where {Func}
+    if first(args) isa Attributes
+        merge!(plot_attributes, attributes(first(args)))
+        return Combined{Func}(Base.tail(args), plot_attributes)
+    end
+    P = Combined{Func}
+    args_converted = convert_arguments(P, map(to_value, args)...)
+    P2, converted = apply_convert!(P, Attributes(), args_converted)
     trans = get!(plot_attributes, :transformation, automatic)
     transval = to_value(trans)
     transformation = if transval isa Automatic
@@ -99,7 +122,12 @@ function Combined{Func, ArgTypes}(plot_attributes, args) where {Func, ArgTypes}
         transform!(t, transval)
         t
     end
-    plot = Combined{Func,ArgTypes}(transformation, plot_attributes, convert.(Observable, args))
+
+    obs_args = Any[convert(Observable, x) for x in args]
+
+    f_argtypes = MakieCore.argtypes(plotfunc(P2), converted)
+    plot = Combined{f_argtypes...}(transformation, plot_attributes, obs_args)
+    plot.converted = map(Observable, converted)
     plot.model = transformationmatrix(transformation)
     return plot
 end
@@ -230,7 +258,7 @@ end
 
 function apply_theme!(scene::Scene, plot::Combined{F}) where {F}
     theme = default_theme(scene, Combined{F, Any})
-    raw_attr = getfield(plot.attributes, :attributes)
+    raw_attr = attributes(plot.attributes)
     for (k, v) in plot.kw
         if v isa NamedTuple
             raw_attr[k] = Attributes(v)
@@ -261,22 +289,3 @@ function MakieCore.argtypes(F, plot::PlotSpec{P}) where {P}
     args_converted = convert_arguments(P, plot.args...)
     return MakieCore.argtypes(plotfunc(P), args_converted)
 end
-
-
-function convert_arguments!(plot::Combined{F}) where F
-    P = Combined{F, Any}
-    function on_update(args...)
-        nt = convert_arguments(P, args...)
-        P, converted = apply_convert!(P, plot.attributes, nt)
-        if isempty(plot.converted)
-            # initialize the tuple first for when it was `()`
-            plot.converted = Observable.(converted)
-        end
-        for (obs, new_val) in zip(plot.converted, converted)
-            obs[] = new_val
-        end
-    end
-    on_update(map(to_value, plot.args)...)
-    onany(on_update, plot, plot.args...)
-    return
-end
diff --git a/src/makielayout/blocks.jl b/src/makielayout/blocks.jl
index ef9aa74d6f5..544adfcbc7b 100644
--- a/src/makielayout/blocks.jl
+++ b/src/makielayout/blocks.jl
@@ -273,12 +273,14 @@ function _block(T::Type{<:Block},
     b
 end
 
-function _block(T::Type{<:Block}, fig_or_scene::Union{Figure, Scene},
-        args...; bbox = nothing, kwargs...)
 
-    # first sort out all user kwargs that correspond to block attributes
+function _block(T::Type{<:Block}, fig_or_scene::Union{Figure, Scene}, args...; bbox = nothing, kwargs...)
+    return _block(T, fig_or_scene, Any[args...], Dict{Symbol,Any}(kwargs), bbox)
+end
 
-    kwdict = Dict(kwargs)
+function _block(T::Type{<:Block}, fig_or_scene::Union{Figure,Scene}, args, kwdict::Dict, bbox)
+
+    # first sort out all user kwargs that correspond to block attributes
 
     if haskey(kwdict, :textsize)
         throw(ArgumentError("The attribute `textsize` has been renamed to `fontsize` in Makie v0.19. Please change all occurrences of `textsize` to `fontsize` or revert back to an earlier version."))
diff --git a/src/makielayout/blocks/axis.jl b/src/makielayout/blocks/axis.jl
index d35ab44eadc..86d1518392c 100644
--- a/src/makielayout/blocks/axis.jl
+++ b/src/makielayout/blocks/axis.jl
@@ -158,7 +158,6 @@ function compute_protrusions(title, titlesize, titlegap, titlevisible, spinewidt
 end
 
 function initialize_block!(ax::Axis; palette = nothing)
-
     blockscene = ax.blockscene
 
     elements = Dict{Symbol, Any}()