pvar across patcher hierarchy

I like using pattrforward to send messages to any object.

I want to be able to receive message from any object in the same way. [pvar] works, but only in the same patch 'level'. I want something that works like [pvar parent::foo] for example.

pattr sort of works, but does something I don't understand with data. For example I can do what I want to do with a simple number, but anything else and pattr doesn't work or does odd things.