The pieces are saying the same thing. I haven't read your article, but the one that I presented, which involves RONI, simply specifies that this "rich get richer" and "warm get warmer" dynamic applies specifically to ENSO attributed warming RELATIVE to the mean background warming. You seem to be arguing more that its the background warming that is the driver. I hypothesize that that may be true when ENSO is not prominent, as was the case over the summer and into the early portion of the fall. This is why the forcing was displaced so far west when SST anomalies were biased well to the east during and shortly after the event's inception. Notice that said convective forcing has navigated slightly to the east since el Nino has taken over more...I know @snowman19 has pointed that out.