Maybe Gepetto found a loophole and was able to get Pinocchio through the wardrobe too- maybe there was room for 2 children, but only one adult. Gepetto did make the wardrobe after all. There are probably things about it that we haven’t been told.
I would agree that August could be Bae *if* the writers hadn’t stated that centuries had passed since we last saw him. If I didn’t know that, then I would be torn between that theory and the Pinocchio one, especially based on what we know about the next episode. But if centuries have passed, August can’t be Bae unless there is some illogical time warp involved.
I don’t understand why people think he might be Peter Pan, though. Peter Pan’s story hasn’t even been touched on, so to have him show up now would be completely out of the blue. And Neverland is a separate realm- it’s an island you reach by flying second star to the right and straight on till morning in our world. I also think August is too important of a character to be from a story that hasn’t been a part of the show yet.
Shows like this love to drop hints throughout the episodes as to the real answer of a mystery that people don’t always connect initially, but when you go back and look, it becomes obvious. I don’t think the writers would go with something random. Pinocchio missing in Storybrooke, a 7 year old boy finding baby Emma, August constantly insisting that he doesn’t lie even though he told a tall tale saying he saw lemurs in Nepal- those are all subtle blink-and-you-miss-it hints. I will be very surprised if they turn out to be mere coincidences and red herrings.
What are examples of previous times when they did mislead us? I can’t think of any off the top of my head.