I'm new-ish, too, so take this for what it's worth... From the "reader" side of things, even if community standards evolved to say it wasn't expected, I don't think I'd ever be comfortable just grabbing a story and recording it without speaking to the author first. I actually feel a little awkward when I find myself eyeing a story that has blanket permission, because I still have that "ask first" impulse clashing with the permission already existing.

That being said, one complication is the issue of an author having drifted away, changed addresses, or just not being around to ask permission of. Since my main fandom is 10+ years old, I'm foreseeing having that problem at some point - getting attached to a particular story and not being able to track down the author. That would definitely be a test on my "ask first" resolve.