Picandra

Picandra is the het ship between Pico and Cassandra from the Pico's School fandom.

In the Original Pico's School
In the original 1999 Flash game, Cassandra is Pico's violent arch-enemy whom he must defeat in order to save his school from her terror. Most of their interactions are negative or hostile, with Cassandra insulting Pico and calling him "Prico" (a portmanteau of his name and the word "prick") as well as Pico actively trying to kill her in order to stop her murderous rampage. Their relationship takes a surprising turn, however, when Cyclops (one of Cassandra's henchmen) reveals to Pico that the reason Cassandra never killed him is because she has a crush on him. Cassandra herself never admits this and continues behaving aggressively towards Pico.

In the final portion of the game when Pico and Cassandra face off in a storage room, Cassandra admits she's impressed by Pico's abilities and states how he could have joined her and the rest of the Goth Punks instead of opposing her. Pico responds by telling Cassandra she had no reason to kill her classmates and could have found other ways to stand out, like making music or creating "a crazy website that lets you kill pop-icons." After this exchange, Cassandra transforms into a Penilian and she becomes the final boss that Pico must fight. Eventually, Pico kills her.

In Pico's School: Love Conquers All
In the 2021 April Fools' Day re-telling of the original Pico's School, Pico and Cassandra's relationship is completely flipped on its head as the two end up forming a peaceful friendship. At the start of the game when Cassandra attempts to shoot her teacher, Pico reveals to her that he likes goth music just like she does - which is enough to stop her from enacting the school shooting. Cassandra tells Pico she has a very low opinion of Earth, and in response to this, Pico takes Cassandra on a walk around the school to show her the beauty of the world. During this walk, Pico is very kind and considerate towards Cassandra; he avoids hurting her feelings and convinces her that the people on Earth aren't as bad as she thought, and that she ought to stay and live among them. Cassandra agrees to spare the planet and the two become friends.

As confirmed by Tom Fulp, both of the aforementioned games are canon and exist as alternate timelines.

In Love Conquers All
During Pico and Cassandra's walk throughout the school, there is a scene where they share a cannabis joint together.

Fanon
Picandra has a rather mixed reputation in the Pico's School fandom as well as the related Friday Night Funkin' fandom. While there is somewhat of a controversy surrounding it (see Criticism below), it is one of the most popular ships in the former. It is the most popular ship for Cassandra and the third most popular ship for Pico.

Picandra fits the ever-popular "Enemies to Lovers" trope, which composes the main part of its appeal, as well as Pico and Cassandra's contrasting appearances and personalities (namely Cassandra's "goth girl" archetype and Pico's "nice/popular kid" archetype). Pico and Cassandra's exact dynamic varies among Picandra shippers, but two different interpretations are most common:
 * An interpretation more common in the Pico's School fandom depicts Cassandra trying to hide her feelings towards Pico and disguising them as hate in a tsundere-type fashion, with Pico unaware.
 * Another interpretation more common in the Friday Night Funkin' fandom depicts Cassandra as much more flirtatious and lustful, constantly trying to attract Pico while he is either oblivious or unreciprocating.
 * PhantomArcade, the main artist for Friday Night Funkin', drew a special holiday site skin for Newgrounds that included a drawing of Pico receiving a Christmas present full of red apples from Cassandra (see Gallery), with Pico looking confused.

In both depictions, the attraction seems one-sided, but portrayals of Pico reciprocating Cassandra's feelings aren't unheard of. There exists an FNF mod centered around Cassandra and Pico going on a date that showcases this.

Picandra's undeniably biggest rival ship is Pico x Nene, with Cassandra and Nene depicted as rivals competing for Pico's affection in a classic Betty and Veronica dynamic; a video on Newgrounds called "Pico's Cat Fight", uploaded to the site in 2014, portrays this rivalry in a bawdy and satirical manner. The second most common rival ship is Pico x BF, and another being Nenessandra.

Criticism
Many dislike Picandra on the claim that it is a toxic ship, due to the fact that Cassandra caused the school shooting that ultimately gave Pico trauma and schizophrenia. Other opposers of the ship claim that shipping Pico with Cassandra is a form of gay erasure in regards to Pico, despite Pico's sexuality being unknown/ambiguous.

Picandra shippers have made several responses to the former claim, the most common response being that the source material's crude and edgy nature does not treat mental disorders or trauma in a serious manner at all as well as being a satirical depiction of a school shooting clearly not aiming for accuracy, therefore making realistic judgements relating to trauma and mental health ill-suited to the game's characters. Others have pointed out that Picandra's main rival ship, Pico x Nene, would also be considered "toxic" in that regard due to Pico killing Nene in the original game.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION


 * TWITTER


 * NEWGROUNDS
 * Pico x Cassandra tag on Newgrounds

Trivia

 * Red apples are often associated with Picandra in the Pico's School fandom and have become a somewhat common Picandra symbol, originating from Cassandra's dialogue about apples in the beginning of the game.