Passing/merging options from function to subfunctions

passing_options.py

def base_fct(**kwargs):
    defaults = {'sharey':'row', 'dpi':80, 'facecolor':'w', 'edgecolor':'k'}
    options = {**defaults, **kwargs}
    return options

def fct(**kwargs):
    defaults = {'sharey':'cols'}
    return base_fct(**{**defaults, **kwargs})

print("Default base options:\n", base_fct())
print("Default fct options:\n", fct())
print("Modified fct options:\n", fct(dpi=120))

This is a pattern I use a lot and keep looking around how to do it !