so, ashley’s relationship w/ sex, romance, etc.. in mass effect 1, her flirting starts out bold and tends to finish off with an awkward “… sir.” ( “yeah, well if you want me in a tin foil mini skirt and thigh-high boots, i’m gonna need dinner first… uh… sir…”) as she remembers it’s her commanding officer she’s talking to. i’d like to think it’s because she’s talking to specifically, shepard – otherwise, we never see her shy or uncomfortable with casual flirting or sex ( “i’m a hellcat off the battlefield, too” ) and she’s completely comfortable with her sexuality. she isn’t shy, and she doesn’t cringe away from sexual topics or innuendo. she’s likely had a few casual flings before.
she’s clearly comfortable in her own skin ( “go ahead, feel my muscle. solid steel.” it’s a funny line, but also pretty indicative that she’s quite comfortable with herself, with her physique and her appearance. ) she knows she’s hot, knows she’s attractive, and more than that she knows she can be intimidating. instead of playing that intimidation factor down, she refuses to make herself “softer,” for shepard, or anyone else. she likes who she is, and they better like her too. she’s confident in herself, and that’s important.
she only becomes a bit more unsure of herself when feelings start getting involved. declarations of emotion ? are more difficult for her than easy flirting. she doesn’t hide from her feelings, though. it’s not difficult in the sense that she doesn’t know how to share her feelings, only that the wording doesn’t come as easily as a wham bam thank you ma’am casual fling would. despite not having a lot of relationships as a reference point, she’s an incredibly loyal person. once you have her heart, it’s hard to lose it – even though she’s angry with shepard, she still loves them. i don’t think she’s had a lot of real, strong romantic relationships – mostly casual ones.
a cute thing to note: she uses poetry as a method of communicating her own emotions, because in her mind, they’ve said it better than she could anyway.
she’s also a bit of a contradiction. she’s confident in her skin, in her abilities, in who she is. she likes herself, and she says as much. but at the same time – at least in mass effect 1. by mass effect 3, she’s gone through a lot of personal growth – she states that doesn’t feel good enough for the alliance, but that shepard makes her feel “good enough.” she definitely has a minor insecurity streak, and a habit of downplaying the worth of her own life. that’s a whole other meta, but i think it’s important in the sense that she’s not putting up a front of confidence — she knows her capabilities, but she doesn’t believe there’s weight to her life: she’s prepared to die for the alliance, her first and last love affair.
in short, she’s not shy, she doesn’t get easily flustered, and i don’t believe she’s even that awkward – until feelings get involved. she doesn’t bother to hide her feelings, though. she’s upfront about what she’s thinking, how she’s feeling — positive or negative. she just has less experience navigating genuine romantic relationships than she does casual ones.
