diff --git a/code/__DEFINES/lighting.dm b/code/__DEFINES/lighting.dm
index fdce0fde2f5..97f2efbc027 100644
--- a/code/__DEFINES/lighting.dm
+++ b/code/__DEFINES/lighting.dm
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ GLOBAL_LIST_INIT(emissive_color, EMISSIVE_COLOR)
 GLOBAL_LIST_INIT(em_block_color, EM_BLOCK_COLOR)
 
 /// A set of appearance flags applied to all emissive and emissive blocker overlays.
-/// KEEP_APART to prevent parent hooking, KEEP_TOGETHER for children, and we reset the color and alpha of our parent so nothing gets overridden
-#define EMISSIVE_APPEARANCE_FLAGS (KEEP_APART|KEEP_TOGETHER|RESET_COLOR|RESET_ALPHA)
+/// KEEP_APART to prevent parent hooking, KEEP_TOGETHER for children, and we reset the color of our parent so emissives get proper coloring based on [EMISSIVE_COLOR]
+#define EMISSIVE_APPEARANCE_FLAGS (KEEP_APART|KEEP_TOGETHER|RESET_COLOR)
 /// The color matrix used to mask out emissive blockers on the emissive plane. Alpha should default to zero, be solely dependent on the RGB value of [EMISSIVE_COLOR], and be independent of the RGB value of [EM_BLOCK_COLOR].
 #define EM_MASK_MATRIX list(0,0,0,1/3, 0,0,0,1/3, 0,0,0,1/3, 0,0,0,0, 1,1,1,0)
 /// A globally cached version of [EM_MASK_MATRIX] for quick access.
diff --git a/code/game/atoms_movable.dm b/code/game/atoms_movable.dm
index 18d00e9966d..7e153f3843b 100644
--- a/code/game/atoms_movable.dm
+++ b/code/game/atoms_movable.dm
@@ -136,8 +136,8 @@
 /mutable_appearance/emissive_blocker/New()
 	. = ..()
 	// Need to do this here because it's overridden by the parent call
+	// This is a microop which is the sole reason why this child exists, because its static this is a really cheap way to set color without setting or checking it every time we create an atom
 	color = EM_BLOCK_COLOR
-	appearance_flags = EMISSIVE_APPEARANCE_FLAGS
 
 /atom/movable/Initialize(mapload, ...)
 	. = ..()
@@ -174,8 +174,8 @@
 		blocker.icon = icon
 		blocker.icon_state = icon_state
 		blocker.dir = dir
-		blocker.appearance_flags |= appearance_flags
-		blocker.plane = GET_NEW_PLANE(EMISSIVE_PLANE, PLANE_TO_OFFSET(plane))
+		blocker.appearance_flags = appearance_flags | EMISSIVE_APPEARANCE_FLAGS
+		blocker.plane = GET_NEW_PLANE(EMISSIVE_PLANE, PLANE_TO_OFFSET(plane)) // Takes a light path through the normal macro for a microop
 		// Ok so this is really cursed, but I want to set with this blocker cheaply while
 		// Still allowing it to be removed from the overlays list later
 		// So I'm gonna flatten it, then insert the flattened overlay into overlays AND the managed overlays list, directly