Desdemona, aka Desiree Robinson, is the host on Monument’s local access television station. She became “the voice” of Monster Mash Wrestling about a year prior to the events of Interpersonal Chemistry, after doing a spotlight episode on Monument Wrestling Academy and held an interview with Jodie and Victor. They invited her to a show, which she initially declined due to prior plans; but after being stood up for a date that night -the first one she had accepted to go on since her divorce- she decided to go and was immediately hooked. It was the first time in years that’d she had actually felt something other than all-consuming numbness. When it was over, she tracked Jodie down and asked how she could become involved.

For a long time, Desiree was “a good Christian woman”. She’d followed all of her parents’ advice throughout adulthood: went to college, started a career, got married to a “nice man”, bought a house, had a kid, etc etc. She joined school boards. She was a Boy Scout Mom. She participated in church bake sales and donated to every raffle. She learned to knit so that she could make scarves and hats and mittens for homeless residents of Monument and Wickburg.

Then, after 10 years of marriage, her husband had an affair and requested a divorce. They sold the house, since she couldn’t keep up mortgage payments on her salary, even with alimony payments (since he’s a contractor, a lot of his numbers are…less that accurate). And for whatever reason, the insinuation in her family was that she hadn’t done enough to keep him around, that she worked too many hours, and so on.

She fell into a spiraling depression, barely keeping it together except for her son. It became difficult to get out of bed most days. She lost a lot of luster for life. She was in her late 30s, and aside from her presence on a local TV channel, felt mostly invisible.

But the weirdos at Monster Mash Wrestling took her in as their own when she showed up with tupperware containers full of freshly baked goods. She approached Jodie with the concept of something like a muse or a Greek chorus type character for the ring announcement position, and Jodie wholeheartedly encouraged her to pursue this idea. Gianna and Wil helped her with outfit designs to reflect this, while repeatedly reminding her that she’s “smoking hot”; after some hesitation, she leaned into it.

This unholy house of queers and fuckups made her feel so much more welcoming than church ever had, embracing her and all of her quirks. It’s not perfect, but neither is she, and that’s alright, because no one expects perfection from her there. All she’s gotta do is work hard and show the same acceptance that they’ve all shown her, and she’s done both. For once, she’s actually happy. Eventually, she’ll get over how silly she feels that it’s due to wrestling.

Being exposed to and becoming familiar with these various walks of life has helped her learn so much about herself. It’s also been good for her relationship with her teenager, who she’s started to realize might have a lot in common with a few of the folks there. In particular, Jodie has been a wonderful friend and a wealth of knowledge throughout the process of helping her figuring it all out.