I know it's not the message I should impart but I spent a bunch of money on new markers and it did in fact fix my art block.

That might be your best bet. I wish I'd called before reporting my freelance earnings because the people at the EI agency were very helpful but there wasn't a lot they could do to mitigate what I'd already set in motion. They might be able to preemptively steer you down the right channel.

Once I'd successfully navigated having the hold removed I got back paid for the weeks I'd missed, all except the one I was paid the freelance in.

I literally just ran into this issue! I reported it when I was working the freelance, not when I was paid, but it did result in a hold being put on my EI that I had to dispute.

Also here are the test prints I did of it for a small recent gallery exhibit