Then, in the KDE wallpaper settings, set it to slideshow using this new directory (which only contains the single image). You have to set refresh time quite low (essentially "polling time"), so I'm not sure if there is a performance hit associated.
This workaround is fully functional, and Variety's indicator and functions still work.
Thanks for the tip miklos. Specific to Variety, I've done the following.
$ mkdir ~/.config/ variety/ wallpaper_ for_kde_ slideshow variety/ wallpaper_ for_kde_ slideshow kde.jpg .
$ cd ~/.config/
$ ln -s ../wallpaper-
Then, in the KDE wallpaper settings, set it to slideshow using this new directory (which only contains the single image). You have to set refresh time quite low (essentially "polling time"), so I'm not sure if there is a performance hit associated.
This workaround is fully functional, and Variety's indicator and functions still work.