and of course right after posting this im now thinking of more stuff: mother/earthbound and cave story are also big influences (considering "home stuck" is basically more or less a calque of "earth bound")

the homestuck made this world podcast goes over many influences (including forum games from the early 00s web, and the horrible depths of the something awful forums) in detail: https://rangedtouch.com/homestuck-made-this-world/ , and is a pretty good starting point for any other kind of 'what else to read' about homestuck tbh