I see TFA mentions Solarized. I've been using Solarized light for longer than I can remember, even on Windows where I can (eg VSCode), and it goes a long way to making my eyes happy. I share the irritation with dark blue on black and can't stand dark mode (maybe I'm now old and no longer 31337 ... alas ...)

For my ncurses brothers, saw this but have not used yet: https://github.com/dankamongmen/notcurses

For my plan9 brothers: one day we will have a new acme, written in common lisp and displaying all the correct colors, and lo it will be glorious.