People who know me know that I love Felicia Day. If you don’t know me, it’s time you learned! While it’s okay not to memorize personal facts about me, like my favorite flavor of ice cream (cookie dough), you should remember Felicia’s name and her project, The Guild. Day is an actress who has appeared in projects like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House M.D., Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and Monk. Her current project, as writer, creator, and actress for The Guild, is my personal favorite endeavor that she’s taken on so far.

What is The Guild? It’s a fictional web series that chronicles the life of a few vastly different gamers. Do you see how non-threatening that sounds? Even if you’ve never so much as seen an Xbox, you’ll find it’s easy to get addicted and relate to this masterfully crafted series. Trust me, I’ve never played the game World of Warcraft, but after watching the first episode of The Guild, I was hooked anyway.

I was lucky enough to ask Day some questions about The Guild, and pleased to learn that the “weapon cookies” in a recent episode were fully edible. So read on and let your inevitable adoration of a certain actress/writer/creator commence!

Jessica Rae: When you aren’t shooting The Guild, do you still hang out with the cast and crew? If you had a girls night for The Guild coming up, what would be on your ultimate dream activity list?

Felicia Day: LA is a big city, but I do see a lot of peeps when we’re not working — mostly my producing partner Kim Evey, and cast members Sandeep Parikh and Jeff Lewis (we do improv together on occasion). For girl’s night, I guess thedream would be to play Rock Band and Mario Cart and eat cupcakes. I’m pretty nerdy.

JR: Do you ever feel a pull between writing to please fans and writing simply what you know you want (or feel otherwise compelled) to write? How do you deal with that internal struggle? Do you ever write simply to surprise fans? Can that make a story better or just different?

FD: Sometimes I think about what the fans will like, for example in thinking up a love interest for Codex in Season 2 — a character that gamers would enjoy who wasn’t actually a gamer. But honestly, I am pretty focused on doing the show that I like, writing what makes me laugh. The great thing about doing things independently is that I’m in charge, for better or for worse! I do love writing the cliffhanger endings that give the viewers a total left-turn. Those are my most enjoyable moments.

JR: Tink’s advice to Codex about men as tools who don’t need names — where did that come from? Have you heard girls say things like this?

FD: [Laughs] I hope I haven’t heard a girl say something like that! I wanted to give Tink an attitude that wasn’t typical. I didn’t want to make her a bimbo, so I had to sit down and think of what the character truly would say, not what I wanted her to say. She’s ruthless and pragmatic and very closed off, so I decided her attitude would be almost clinical and wrote from there. I really love that monologue. It makes me laugh a lot.

JR: My impression is that your fans and admirers are smarter than the average bear and don’t expect you to be a perfect role model who can’t be human and buy toothpaste without makeup. But being a role model in all of the capacities you’ve become a role model for (gamers, female gamers, people wanting to explore web content, etc.), is it ever more burden than honor? Can you explain what it feels like for you to be a role model?

FD: I don’t really think of myself as a role model of anything, except conveying the attitude “I’m just doing my best.” I’m not trying to be glamorous or “show up” anyone else with my successes, and I try to be the first to admit my failures. If I look crappy in a photo, well, that’s how I looked that day. The glossy “celebrity” culture that we live in kind of repulses me because it isn’t real, and yet we perceive it as real, so we can never live up to it. I just want to encourage people to find their passion and do it regardless of how great they are at it or how other people receive it.

JR: Whose idea was it to include the toast spellbooks and the weapon cookies? I loved them. Who physically made them, and who later ate them?

FD: I came up with that. I loved that line — one of my favorites of the season! The production designer, Leah Mann, made those cookies, and they looked fabulous. The crew snacked on them after we filmed them.

JR: From re-watching episodes, I’ve started to see the opportunity for some darker storylines with The Guild characters. Will the show stay on the level of comedy it’s been, or should we anticipate the exploration of anything darker coming our way?

FD: Well, in Season One, Zaboo tries to hang himself. I guess it’s hard to get darker than that.  But yes, there’s some drama around the corner, and I won’t shy away from it if the characters seem to want to go in that direction next season. I don’t want to make it into a soap opera, but under every great joke there’s a great sorrow…or there’s some quote like that someone said. Sometime. Whatever.

You can watch Season One and Season Two of The Guild streamed on MSN Video for free. Felicia Day’s character, Codex, is so endearing that I dare you to watch the first few minutes of an episode and then turn away. I truly dare you!