protomatter: clarify by comment why these functions exist
protomatter: clarify by comment why these functions exist

adafruit/micropython,adafruit/circuitpython,adafruit/circuitpython,adafruit/circuitpython,adafruit/micropython,adafruit/micropython,adafruit/micropython,adafruit/circuitpython,adafruit/micropython,adafruit/circuitpython,adafruit/circuitpython