As I see it, rising stars will show smiley faces, say (9)
I believe the answer is:
something
'rising stars will show smiley faces say' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'as i see it' is the wordplay.
'as' becomes 'so' (I've seen this in other clues).
'i' becomes 'me'.
'see it' becomes 'thing'.
'so'+'me'+'thing'='SOMETHING'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for something that I've seen before include "It's not nothing" , "Special quality" , "Unspecified item" , "unknown" .)