November/December 2008 Issue

Joss Whedon’s Heroine Addiction

Five of Joss’ most Whedonesque characters.

Photo: Dr. Horrible Courtesy Mutant Enemy; all others courtesy 20th Century Fox

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Five of Joss’ most Whedonesque characters

Buffy

buffy summers

The quip-happy teen do-gooder who started it all, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Quote: “People to see, demons to kill.”

Cordelia

cordelia chase

Former mean girl and Buffy foil turned compassionate seer on the spin-off show, Angel.
Quote: “Actually, I’m feeling superior because I have an arrow pointed at your jugular. And the irony of using a phallic-shaped weapon…not lost on me.”

Dr. Horrible

dr. horrible

Supervillain antihero of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, played by Neil Patrick Harris.
Quote: “The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it.”

River

river tam

The troubled young psychic assassin among the space outlaws of Firefly and Serenity.
Quote: “I can kill you with my brain.”

Spike

spike

Buffy’s sexy British nemesis/one-time lover. The kind of vampire who likes his women intelligent and complex.
Quote: “I may be love’s bitch, but at least I’m man enough to admit it.”

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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