Surrounded, in measureless oceans of space

More than anything, Richter is a geek and a fanboy. He barrels through all sorts of fandoms over donuts, inhaling them with the kind of gusto only embodied by 20-something young men. From Sherlock (both the BBC series and the movies), Warped Tour and Blink 182 (Richter is sporting a Blink bracelet) NSYNC and Lost, the excitement in his voice building until it spills over into a story of “the coolest thing that’s ever happened to [him], and probably will be for a while.” He was attending the Entertainment Weekly party at Comic Con with Criss, who is also Richter’s roommate in LA, when he spotted Damon Lindelof. Richter is a self-professed “enormous Lost fan” and he “almost just died” when he saw the creator enter the room.

“I had to go say something to him,” Richter recalls “So we had this conversation about how much I appreciate his work. He asked what I was doing here, and I said I’m here tonight with my friend Darren. And Damon goes, ‘Oh Darren, he’s doing good for himself. First this Harry Potter musical, now Glee.’” Richter pauses for dramatic effect, eyebrows raised to his hairline and palms up in a gesture of disbelief before continuing with a kind of schoolboy giddiness. “And I freaked out, and go, ‘I was in that,’ and then there was this moment where Damon goes ‘Oh! You’re Ron!’ It was the most wonderful I’ve felt in my entire life.”