The Starks are overall a good natured House. Consider it from this angle, that you would not be permitted to join the House with an overall negative attitude styled character if you had just applied. We have an interview process so that we can get a feel for what they are looking for and what we are expecting.

In the lore, the Starks were known for being conscientious to the commoners & small folk. They were mindful of the people they lorded over and considered them and their needs. The purpose of such a background on the family is to show their overall character type and their upbringing.

How this factors into SL character creation is that while you are creating a new Stark character, say 25 years old, you still have to realize how your actual parents would have brought you up and how the Lord Paramount would administer discipline and consequence for your actions should they be unfavorable.

A Stark can be doubtful, quiet, stern, distant, aloof, cold, and even a bit angry about certain back-stories and current events. They can be other non-happy go lucky characteristic types as well, but they can't generally be known as sarcastic, rude, or mean. They aren't raised to be dishonorable or assholes. It doesn't fit into how one would be raised or allowed to live and carry about. This is not the world of 2013 where Child Protective Services is called when a father or mother figure backhands a child for acting inappropriately. If you are a cocky little shit, your parent would beat it out of you. If you are an adult Stark and molding into an unfavorable sort, the Lord Paramount would rectify your attitude with swift action. If you show unfavorable traits, you would be ordered away from the capitol city. This is the most 'represented' place in Westeros, and your actions are seen by everyone, since gossip runs rampant here. If you make the family look bad, off to Winterfell you go, or to the Wall or a Nunnery.

If you want to have a negative character, there are PLENTY of Houses, Great and Banner, to join here in King's Landing. It just isn't going to be a Stark story.

The Lord Paramount of a Great House has one concern and one concern only, the family name. They don't get to be dad or uncle first, they have to be Lord Paramount first, then they are dad or uncle. Everything you do reflects on me. If you are acting poorly in-character, it reflects on me. If you do something embarrassing or misleading or tell a lie or commit a crime, it reflects on me. This is the Middle Ages, where reputation means more than most anything else.

I am not expecting any of you to play drones. You aren't a machine, you have a personality and are able to have faults, but over all your direction is forward and acceptable. If you are unbecoming of a lady or lord, you will be dealt with accordingly. Playing honorable and respectful and focused on preserving the family name does not have to be a boring, lifeless act. You can add your own spin on it, or find reasonable corners to cut, but an overall negative Stark wouldn't be permitted to represent the family in the capitol, and if they were still negative and unbecoming well into their adult years, they'd be forced to take the black of the Wall, or the white of a Nunnery, or they'd simply be casted from the family.

In short, the Starks were overall good natured people and fair, and honorable and loyal to a near fault. They weren't generally the sort to sleep around either, as it reflects poorly in the House name and its leader.