The Minions aren’t going to like me saying this but I’ve stumbled upon a nice and actually legible dark theme. idlip Dilip has a new, high-contrast theme, Haki, that started with Prot’s modus-vivendi and some of Daniel Mendler’s packages to design a theme that was perfect for him.
Take a look at his screenshots to see what it looks like in a number of Emacs modes. Notice how everything is legible. There is no dark blue on black or other unreadable hideousness. Just sharp, high-contrast colors. And I love the irony of the top post in his Elfeed screen being Irreal’s Red Meat Friday: Dark R Sessions in ESS.
Even though it’s relatively new, Haki is already available in MELPA. The README has installation instructions and a use-package recipe. I will not, of course, be abandoning my light mode non-theme but if you’re in the intersection of people who (1) like dark themes and (2) like being able to read the text in the buffer you should definitely take a look.