∫ some rise by sin, some by virtue fall
Mara Androzzi in brief:
(history contains triggering material)
♦ 5'2"
♦ Born 1975
♦ Gotham native
♦ Catholic
♦ Single mother
♦ Businesswoman
♦ Philanthropist
♦ Crime boss
⁞ polyvore
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⁞ gotham city
history
When at eighteen, Mara Acoma chose to leave Gotham for an ascetic life as a nun, her father was unhappy but accepted her decision; contact between Mara and her family dwindled as they moved in separate directions, which would ultimately lead to the sole surviving Acoma having no preparation or warning for the attempted assassination at her convent two years later. Not yet having taken vows, Mara found herself in the unenviable position of being forced to contend with the inheritance of both Acoma Incorporate and the enmity of her father and brother's murderers. Not an awesome situation. Essentially given the choice between taking up the family business and potentially getting herself killed or just getting herself killed, Mara chose to be proactive and returned to Gotham with the support of some loyal family retainers.
The sheer novelty value of watching her try got her through the first few months, and she turned out to be a surprisingly canny businesswoman and politician (so to speak); Mara made a swift alliance with the Androzzi family, though she startled observers by making a play for the youngest and least obviously beneficial of the Androzzi brothers, Bruce. (The name's an unfortunate coincidence.)
Bruce Androzzi didn't have his brothers' charisma, intellect or business acumen - in fact he was a largely unsophisticated womanizer who'd been given a free reign in his personal life by the lack of interest he had in his family's business and the lack of interest his family had in him. Mara wanted the support of his family without their direct interference, and hoped to be acquiring a malleable husband she could control; she severely underestimated him, overestimated herself and had no real understanding of even a healthy relationship, much less what she was about to be subjected to. Their ensuing relationship was profoundly unhealthy and ill-advised - while Bruce proved himself capable in dealing with the inherited threats of the Acomas' enemies, he was painfully aware of his own shortcomings and uncomfortable with a wife he found disconcertingly untouchable, frustrations that he frequently blamed her for and opted to take out on her in controlling, often physically abusive behaviour, including but not limited to spousal rape. When Mara became pregnant, Bruce distanced himself, opting to spend less time in their home and more time with his mistress, which suited Mara as she focused on preparing for their child and work both toward getting the company out of receivership and taking a crash course in Gotham's organized crime as she made use of Bruce's resources to reestablish control over arrangements that the Acomas had previously profited from, black market supply and demand.
Throughout her pregnancy, Mara also turned her attention to the cleanest methods of ridding herself of a husband who'd outlived his usefulness. Though the details are murky, in 1998, the father of a young son, Bruce Androzzi made an ill-advised and ill-judged bid for power in Gotham's underworld, provoking a mess of shifting alliances out of a move that beggared belief to those who'd been familiar with Bruce's startlingly swift judgement in conflicts, and in the ensuing chaos he ultimately took his own life while his wife begged ignorance and made a move of her own, throwing her support to another faction in exchange for a temporary peace. The Androzzi family never directly accused their daughter-in-law, but relations became strained in the aftermath and their tenuous truce relied on the safety of Bruce and Mara's son, Antony.
...which meant it all went to hell in 2007, when Antony was killed. Mara squarely and relatively publicly lay the blame for her son's death at the doorstep of his paternal family - a misjudgement made in grief that cemented their feud. While her personal life was in tatters, her professional successes were unprecedented; Acoma Incorporate had been steadily regaining ground since the late '90s and was back at a more than comfortable profit margin, with its diminutive president and CEO commanding a professional respect that rivalled the reputation her father had established prior to his death. She managed their operations on both side of the law with a deft hand, trained by necessity - gained a reputation for calculated risks that someone in a less precarious position might have known better than to take and more often than not made them work for her.
While she focused her primary efforts on removing the threat to her position (and family - such as it was) that primarily existed in an ex-military group that had been vying for control with her father and who had been her first inherited enemy (dodging an assassination attempt, she managed to cut off the head of the snake only to find that subsequent leaders thought she was really great to continue to have a grudge against anyway), Mara found time to bat away her brother-in-law's rivalry as he held a (to Mara) inexplicable grudge against the insult to his masculine pride that had been her slight in disregarding him when she looked for allies in the first place. (...men???? Jesus Christ.)
In the mid-2000s, Mara's household expanded to include an Irishman, Kevin Byrne, whose specific capacity was never entirely clear to outsiders; an influential advisor with her direct ear, Kevin also functioned on multiple occasions as a personal bodyguard and a babysitter to Antony. Shortly before the death of Antony Androzzi, Byrne was unceremoniously expelled from the country, coinciding with several upheavals in Mara's professional and personal life: Acoma interests withdrew entirely from any involvement with human trafficking (and she gained a reputation for dealing viciously with those still involved), and she became pregnant with her second child, Justin Androzzi. Her decision to not only continue to use the Androzzi name but furthermore give it to a son whose father she remained entirely tight-lipped about was ruled by her brother-in-law to be perverse at best and a calculated insult at worst.
Predictably, she had no comment on that either.
...etc
Mara Androzzi's Gotham home is a veritable fortress of security that includes a sophisticated high tech system and impressive manpower; it is walled for both privacy and safety, and much of the staff at the residence are handpicked by either Mara herself or her closest counsel, who include Lucas Tuscai (head of her security) and Andrew Case (who doesn't have or need a job title, specializing in the acquisition and handling of information). Her youngest son not yet school-aged, he is rarely seen in public and is never without a personal body-guard of his own. Mara's philanthropic efforts typically (but not always) involve Church backing, and she maintains a hands-off policy in anything resembling open politics in Gotham City.
canon
Mara Androzzi is an adaptation of Mara of the Acoma for Nolan's fabulously noir take on Batman's world.