I think the problem is that the %h you are referencing is gone (it's pad) before val is called. changing new to have a new copy of %h and fixing val to end with a a reference fixes it.

The %h is fine because it's refcnt never dropped below 1. But referencing the value of the hash works a treat! I can now lvalue assign my tied hash elements of blessed-hash object attributes to my hearts content, many many thanks shotgunefx!

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broquaint