The problem with some people is that they expected sweet teenage Bae to grow up into sweet adult Bae. Just think all of your own life experiences. Are you the same type of person? I know I’m not. I’m not completely different, but my 14 year old self was quite different in wants and desires, and even personality, from my thirty-something self. And that was just the result of normal life experiences.
Transfer that to the fictional world and Bae being bombarded with otherworldly experiences on top of being the very human situation of being abandoned by his parents. I’m shocked he’s as well adjusted as he is. He’s lost, at a young age, literally everyone he’s ever cared about and who has cared about him. By the time he gets out of Neverland, it’s no longer unthinkable that sweet little Bae has forever been changed and damaged. And we don’t even know what he’s gone through since leaving Neverland. I suspect my heart will break even more. Fast-forward to his time with Emma and it makes their situation even more heartbreaking for both parties. I see Neal as just as much a victim in all this as Emma is.
As for who you prefer, I don’t care for Hook. Like Neal-haters who claim it’s not because of SF, my dislike has nothing to do with CS. Its all personal preferences. Hook reminds me too much of Jack Sparrow, who I also disliked, and I just can’t emotionally connect to the character at all, even from the beginning. We all have our preferences.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.