Amelia
Talon

SUMMER FLAME Miss June brings the heat Photography by Stephen Wayda With a gift for gaming as sharp as her name, Amelia Talon has been “pwn-ing noobs” (that’s gamer speak for “conquering newbie players”) her whole life. “I have a Pokémon Poké Ball tattoo on the nape of my neck—that’s how committed I am,” says our Miss June, a World of Warcraft master and fervent Call of Duty zombie slayer. Her ultimate mission? To reverse the stereotype of the basement-dwelling gamer. “Gaming has always been viewed as a boy-nerd thing,” she explains with a laugh. “I want to prove that gamers can be both female and cool.” -Amelia’s surprisingly calm, collected in-person demeanor comes from her Pacific Northwest upbringing. A native of Washington state, she spent innumerable days as a kid hiking in the Olympic Mountains and rafting down the Dungeness River. That said, she wasn’t always so easygoing and adventurous. “It wasn’t until I was 15 that I started dating and reaching out to people,” she says. “Before that, I was really shy, and I worried a lot about being classified as a nerd. I wore trench coats and black boots and hung out with the goth kids.” After graduating from high school, Amelia considered a career in (what else?) game design, but instead she decided to pursue modeling. “It’s an art form too,” the 22-year-old declares. Modeling is also something that has begun to rival her passion for gaming. “It’s fun turning guys on—maybe because I wasn’t sexy when I was younger. I was the artsy goth girl in the corner. But now look at me: I’m a successful model and Playmate. I feel like the ugly duckling who has turned into a swan.”