Question about class upgrades

I've noticed that weapon types between classes, let's say THM > BLM, are the same. If weapons are used to identify which class you are, and are the same between these two classes....what, then, happens when I upgrade from THM to BLM? Are the level/skill progressions parallel? Do I lose the ability to level THM? Do I get to choose one or the other? How exactly does it work?

The misconception you're running into here is that BLM is a Class, such as THM. Instead, BLM is a Job within that Class... think of it like a specialization. Once you've reached the requisite levels in THM and ARC and completed the appropriate THM Quest, you obtain an item called a Soul Stone that makes you a BLM when equipped. You retain your THM abilities, while gaining the new ones of your Job as you level them. Equipping this item also restricts what cross-Class abilities you can select from your other Classes -- BLM, for instance, is restricted to ARC and ACN for cross-class, whereas THM can use several other classes' abilities.

Hope this helps answer your question!

EDIT: To clarify, your Job gives you additional Skills, but is not leveled independently. When you hit THM level 50, for example, you gain Aetheric Manipulation and also gain Flare while the BLM Soul Stone is equipped.

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Originally Posted by Shisou

EDIT: To clarify, your Job gives you additional Skills, but is not leveled independently. When you hit THM level 50, for example, you gain Aetheric Manipulation and also gain Flare while the BLM Soul Stone is equipped.

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For further clarification, you only get those skills if you've done the Black Mage quests to unlock them.

Thanks very much for the replies. This clears things up quite a bit for me. Based on Powercow's reply, I'm assuming that you only gain BLM skills through quests?